Yes! We Want Comments

Ah! And that's an origin that fits you well indeed!

There's a more exotic origin. After my divorce I went walkabout in my fashion, visiting friends I'd met playing bridge on line. It was quite an odyssey - extending as far south as the very tip of the Florida Keys, as far north as Boston and as far west as Denver. I kept a travel diary and eventually developed quite an extensive email mailing list of my adventures. An Iranian online friend suggested I should change my screen-name, which incorporated "mama" in an attempt to dissuade virtual mashers, to mamapolo - as in Marco Polo.

Or the mother of a mint sweet?

:-) And how are you today, mamapolo. And by the way, why are you called mamapolo? I picture you as den mother to a polo team.

Of course, being you.

Of course, being me, the first thing I was tempted to reply was, "No comment." :-)

Sounds like a song!

I KNOW. I saw a mysterious little smile creeping through the bluegrass.

I will comment. I promise. So there! I am stalkin' Mamapolo's stories today.

Yo, Mamapolo..!



Between work, the holiday and wierd medical stuff of my own cropping up, I've not been here much either...



Y'know, EP attracts a very wide variety of people, and there are lots of "groups of one" here. I kinda suspect that WHERE you post might have somewhat to do with whether your post attracts comments. WHAT you post probably has a lot to do with it too; am wondering whether viewings might give you a better idea of your readership is -- it blows me away to come back & see that 9 people have taken the trouble to read something I posted.



Not everyone has the same life experiences, so there are surely any number of people who can't empathize with my life view just as I don't necessarily empathize with theirs; the beauty of this place is that just about anyone CAN, eventually, find someone who DOES empathize with 'em.



Personally, I enjoy random story mode 'cause I believe that's the quickest way to find new interesting stories... like yours. I read your stories 'cause I enjoy your wry humor and spirit... so there..!

It's a very good story - and a 'take' I hadn't considered before.



And I have reassessed my opinion of this, too. (Changing my mind isn't something that happens a GREAT deal these days - I find it exhausting to make up my mind in the first place).



I think the writer feels "If a story falls in the woods and nobody comments, does it still have in an impact?" But the reader sometimes feels either no impetus to MAKE a comment, or, as you say, prefers to leave any negative things unsaid, OR feels that a response involves a commitment that he/she may not be ready to make - to a conversation.



Still like comments, though, and you are very steadfast in making comments. How ya doin', Momcat? Haven't had much time for interaction of late.

"Be careful what you wish for... ya might get it..." :-D



I'm not sure that everyone who posts here is actively trying to write well -- I think some are just trying to tell their story as best they can; these folk, I suspect, neither need nor want formal literary criticism.



Sometimes people post things that there's no way I can relate to, let alone respond to ... every now & again I get randomized to some post to which my gut response is "Oh -kay-y-y.... moving right along... NEXT!!! " Not sure this is what they want by way of response -- y'know... if you can't say something nice, etc... Not sure they want a generic " That's nice, dear..." either, let alone " Umm, er... a-hem .."



I also don't wanna antagonize anyone, especially anyone who's posted something that qualifies under the above description -- we don't really need flame wars here either...



That's my story & I'm sticking to it...!