I can be a bit of a talker myself.

If I were on a long-haul flight and had to sit next to a talkative person with a really irritating voice, or a quiet person who keeps staring at me, I think I'd choose the former.

The irritating talker probably has nothing to hide. I could always attempt to excuse myself by saying I have work to do, and plug into my iPod while I read. The quiet starer is an unknown quantity and who knows what he/she is considering during those prolonged stares. Perhaps it's that fear of the unknown that makes me uncomfortable. It would certainly make me want to look away and try not to notice, but failing that I would probably eventually start to stare back.

I enjoy chatting with people but I hope I know when to stop - I can read body and facial language, as long as people aren't pretending to be interested. If they are good at pretending, I'm floored and they only prolong the agony for themselves!

I hope that if I was next to a persistent chatterbox that I would be able to respectfully extricate myself from their attentions. But that creepy starer? I'm not sure about her at all. Or him.