Interaction

Today we are going to discuss a few types of people. People that have trouble controlling themselves around quiet or sometimes even noise. They feel that if they aren’t talking to someone, or interacting with something around them then something is wrong.

Ever notice how some people can’t handle in silence? That if it’s too quiet, they just get uncomfortable? Like if the two of you are in the room and aren’t talking right this second, something must be wrong (and they tend to think it’s probably their fault). It just feels like conversation for conversation’s sake (read an earlier post to see how I feel about small talk). News flash, sometimes the mark of a good relationship is how well you can handle silence. It’s also a clear indicator of self-confidence. If you feel that just because we are in the same room we must talk, it shows a clear lack of self-worth (because you are basing your opinion of yourself on how others perceive you, and if no one talks to you, then you must be worthless).

In addition to a comfortable silence, I think how long you can go without talking or hanging out is a clear indicator of how strong the bond is. I only see one of my best friends that I’ve known for over a decade now about twice a month. For some people that wouldn’t be enough, but for us it works just fine. We can quickly catch up, or take hours to go over what’s been happening in our lives. We’re fine just hanging out at someone’s house or going out and doing some activity. We used to spend a lot more time together, but we live much further apart now, and have much busier lives. However, we both know that if we need each other we are there, and if not, we will be there too.

Back to the uncomfortable people, sometimes it’s not even enough for them that the TV is on or music is playing, so instead they choose to interact with whatever is going on around them for some strange reason. I was giving someone a ride home awhile ago, and this person wasn’t a great conversationalist (and I really didn’t care too much to try and drag a conversation out of them), so there was mostly just the music going on in the background. The CD we were listening to was one that a friend of mine had composed the music for, and certainly wasn’t very well known, so I am about as certain as I can be that my passenger had never heard it before, but that didn’t stop him from trying to whistle along to the music (which he did with almost no success of following the score). It was incredibly annoying and I wanted nothing more than to just get them out of my car at that point (also not helpful was the fact I never wanted them in my car in the first place…).

Some people take that even further though, and they just can’t let anything around them happen without their input. They have to sing along to the song that’s on, or comment about the movie or TV show that’s on. One evening I was at someone’s house and a movie was playing. It happened to be Star Trek, so there was bound to be a lot of “geek speak,” or basically over- analyzation of everything technical about the movie, so as to make the commentators feel as if they are smarter than the future portrayed in the movie (again showing a lack of self-confidence by having to make themselves seem better than something), but it sure didn’t stop there. I don’t know if there was more than a minute that went by without someone making some inane comment or another. Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t even me who asked that the subtitles be turned on so that people could at least read the movie, since they certainly couldn’t hear it over everyone else talking the entire time.

The whole thing is just something that frustrates me. It all seems like interaction just to have something to fill the space, and you know what? Sometimes silence is a blessing.