The awkwardness of silence

In our society, people are generally uncomfortable with silence. It is a bad sign if you run out of things to talk about with a person. In order to have a successful conversation there should be no "awkward silences". People don't know what to do if there is a silence. Where should they look; at the other person, at the floor, at the ceiling? My level of comfort with silence depoends on who I am with. I can spend an hour in the car with my mother and not say a word. However, I would feel uncomforatble with an hour of silence with somebody I was friendly with.
A lot of times if there is an awkward silence, people with start rambling, just to fill the silence. Some people draw out stories just to fill time with talking. There are people who do just like to hear themselves talk, but I think it has to do with self-absorption rather than a need to avoid silence.
Some people do need to listen more. If one person is talking another person might feel it is necesary to constantly interrupt and ask questions just to keep up a conversation. That persoanlly annoys me. When I am telling a story I like to keep the flow of it.
In our society, people are always saying I need to get away and have some peace and quiet. But people rarely sit in literal peace and quiet to reflect. The need for peace and quiet is more a yearning to get away from a certain place or person.
I experienced an awkward silence on the first day of class when Sal just stood in front of the class and said nothing. I get anxious if I am hanging out with somebody new and there is silences.
I can sit in silence with my immediate family or my three best friends. The reason it would be awkward with anyone else is because if there is silence, I get worried that the other person will lose interest in me. It doesn't matter if my family finds me interesting;the are my family and biologically have to care about me. With my friends, I know they find me interesting and want to be with me, because they are my best friends. I would rather sit in silence with them than have a forced conversation with anyone else.
Silence can be a good thing, because it gives people time to think and reflect. However, silence can be used in a negative way: for example, the silent treatment. Our society puts silence in a bad light, because our society likes to be in constant communication. However, I think people should try to accept more, because you can enjoy somebody's company without talking to them.