A few days later, this same friend and I ate at a different restaurant. It was there that it became clear to us that silence is, indeed, dead. We would have had to scream to be heard. The only silence in that restaurant was at our table. I think it's because we're desperately afraid of being alone.
Silence only enforces the fact that no one is there.
The absence of sound forces us to think and to feel and, perhaps, to get in touch with emotions and feelings we'd rather not. So we fill that silence any way we can. Watch when a cell phone rings in a crowded room. Women will rummage through their purses to see if it's theirs. Men will quickly glance at their waistbands to see if their phone has sprung to life.