Question of the Day

[ayoub]

When you meet someone for the first time, how do you handle uncomfortable silences?

---

Today's question inspired by pi_girl :D

And I usually have a new topic / ready compliment at hand :D

Comments

[dishapeaches.livejournal.com]

Um, I talk. There are no uncomfortable silences when I'm around.

[robvansam.livejournal.com]

Why doesn't that surprise me :P

[avis-noctis.livejournal.com]

Eh...good question. I usually try to bring up a new topic in order to find a common interest.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

Cool!

[brenda-in-sepia.livejournal.com]

Make a cheesy joke about awkward silences.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

LMAO!

[katamphigorical.livejournal.com]

I ask an equally uncomfortable question.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

Niiiiice!

[childeofloki.livejournal.com]

By bluntly pointing out the uncomfortable silence, than blatantly going on with a different conversation.

[moonlights-lair.livejournal.com]

...

That's the best way to handle the situation IMHO.

Moonlight.

[spacedlaw.livejournal.com]

I don't. I am one of those weird people who are completely at ease with silence. Making noise for the sake of making noise is not for me.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

That's a great way to be!

[seegwa.livejournal.com]

I'll offer to refresh their tea or something and switch topics.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Tea is always good!

[ccupguy.livejournal.com]

<insert>*uncomfortable silence*</insert>
:P
ccup

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

LOL! :D

[bronxelf-ag001.livejournal.com]

I'm the one usually causing them.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

That's a powerful thing to be able to do :D

[mighty-rontor.livejournal.com]

I kill them.


Kidding! I just ride it out, and think about what I want to know about them.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

[alainn-mactire.livejournal.com]

I don't.

If I'm uncomfortable with a silence, it usually means I'm uncomfortable with the person.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Cool :D

[moonlights-lair.livejournal.com]

Depends on the mood...

If the person is REALLY uptight (we're talkin' pickle up the butt kind of uptight) I have been known to shock them out of it.

*grin*

Moonlight.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

Shocking works!

[darkbay.livejournal.com]

I usually flash my boobies.

[gillian16.livejournal.com]

Holy moly, me too! ;o)

[chiropteraclan.livejournal.com]

It depends on the situation, but most often I ask a question.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

Cool!

[sorah.livejournal.com]

I don't usually find silences uncomfy, but...I'm sure there might have been a few "quiet moments" so I might mention the weather? haha.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

The weather is a great fall back topic!

[gaia43.livejournal.com]

I'm a librarian, so I tend to ask "read any good books lately?" or talk about something I have read.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

That's a good way to do it!

[fox-bard.livejournal.com]

Oh, no you don't!!!!

You sit there and blush and smile and look around and reach for something to compliment. Then you listen to the conversations around you while ogling the ladies. Hrmph!

Me, I just babble through such silences like a complete moron. And that's often what I look like while I'm doing it, too, I'm sure.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

Yeah, I used to do that... But then, when we met, it was during my years of being made to feel like crap about myself... :D

And you can talk! Donn was the one who did all the talking!

[rowanchey.livejournal.com]

I don't handle them very well at all. I'm actually shy (believe it or not), and don't say much unless spoken to. I just listen to the conversation. And therefore, 95% of the time, I give the first impression of a stuck-up bitch.

But, who's to say that inaccurate?

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

I think that's extremely inaccurate!

[amante-donne.livejournal.com]

Hmmm if you cannot be comfortable in silent periods, then the friendship/relationship is going nowhere, I don't want to hear ANYONES voice for the entire time i'm with them

[innerly.livejournal.com]

beautiful comment

[innerly.livejournal.com]

i just smile and usually the other person smiles back and we take it from there... to be honest, people often feel at ease with me right away, and i can talk a lot, so there are not many uncomfortable silences

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

And with your smile? :D

[uawildcatgrl.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty chatty unless the person makes me wicked uncomfortable...so there really aren't very many uncomfortable silences.

(If, for some reason, I am wicked uncomfortable...I try to end it asap)

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Yeah... Wicked uncomfortable usually means walk away...

[mishi-ragdoll.livejournal.com]

man, im dealing with that right now. there's a new guy at my school, i talk to him sometimes, but awkward silences occur frequently. i hate it!

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Ask him if he likes the silences!

[bmused.livejournal.com]

I often just notice them, and realize that I'm inventing the discomfort. It doesn't have to feel uncomfortable at all.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

That's a good way :D

[soothethemuse.livejournal.com]

Point it out, make fun of it, note how long it actually took to get to the awkward silence and then move on.

OR,

Just let the conversation drop for a while (if online) and pick it back up later.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

I like the first answer :D

[empatia.livejournal.com]

I have this annoying rambler quality, I ramble about the oddest things, so there really is no silence just dirty looks lol

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

No dirty looks from here :D