Tell Me What I Think

A friend of mine often asks, "Know what I think?" And, when someone responds with, "No, what do you think?" Says, "I don't know, I was hoping you could tell me."
 
As I peruse the stories and comments at various internet sites that I am alerted to by the folks at the Washington Post and NY Times (through the emails they send me each day), I find some fascinating things.  Mostly it is opinion that intrigues me. The opinions of authors of these reports/op-eds and the opinions of those who leave comments. These folks are not the majority, they are a tiny minority of the public at large. The vast majority do not write opinion pieces, or news reports, or comment on them. The vast majority only tell their spouses and friends what they think. Many do not even do that... most likely out of fear of alienating those they hold in some kind of esteem.

I am, of course, opinionated and quite willing to let those opinions be known. Anyone who reads this blog on occasion knows this. Or should. Yet, I have refrained from writing some strong opinions at times for the same reasons that some of my friends have held their tongues in the face of opinions that they disagreed with.

And I wonder why...