It’s a phrase we hear a lot from, mostly from public officials when confronted with questions from a curious press when they can’t or don’t want to divulge further information. Sometimes it is valid – unable to comment on an ongoing investigation to avoid tipping off suspects or other involved parties. And sometimes it is just awkward – they want the matter to just go away.

Sometimes they don’t know what to say and don’t want to say “I don’t know” We have a tendency to do that – we feel like it betrays our intelligence – that we are supposed to know it all. It isn’t true but it seems to be an automatic response.

There are also instances where we don’t know what to say and so are silent. Dealing with someone grieving is awkward – there are no good words to say. I believe that actions speak louder than words and being there is often sufficient. But when someone asks us to comment they need feedback and we should be ready to share.

That is why I was surprised at what I found recently when searching other blogs. I wanted to see what other people were blogging about and give them feedback – as well as solicit interest in my blog. What I found were many blogs where there was no way to comment – no setup to leave comments. I read some really good posts but had to go away empty. Some were official blogs for Toastmasters groups where I guess you have to belong to the group, or sign in with them, in order to comment.

I found a “contact us” button on a few and left a comment about the issue. Hopefully, I will hear back, but otherwise, I just move on and keep on searching. I can’t imagine that someone would go through the trouble of setting up a blog and creating posts with no setup for comments. Unless like the public official they don’t really want any comments. I hope you will comment on my blog – it is set up to facilitate that – and I welcome any and all comments. Thanks:)