Why I Don't Always Comment, Even When I Loved Your Article

HubPages is a prodigious community. The Hubbers are intelligent, well informed, witty, caring, insightful, astute, judicious, profound. OK, I admit it, I could go on forever this way. Hubbers are just plain magnificent!

I read Hubs much more often than I write. I get lost in my reading of the Hubs, time becomes meaningless, chores are left undone, sleep is deprived (even further than it was). I love to learn, to laugh and to love. And HubPages is here for me to pursue each and every interest I have, even some I never knew I had until I read about them!

Very often I read articles that I love, articles that make me laugh and articles that teach me something I never knew, or give me a greater understanding of something I did know. There are articles that teach life skills. Articles that make me feel good. I get to the comment section, and I know what I want to say, but it's already been said. Or, everyone else's comments seem so witty, mine seems mundane. Or, everyone is so well-informed on the subject, I feel (don't want to admit this!) inadequate.

I know I should leave a comment, but my brain dries up and all I can think of is "great article". I have read in many articles that this is an extremely empty comment, so I end up leaving no comment. I know intellectually that this is silly, but I do it anyway. I allow myself to become intimidated by the other comments.

When I get to the Hubs with many, many comments my imagination freezes and my brain dries up. All comments fly away from my mind as Dorothy flew from Kansas in the tornado. "Work, brain, work," I think to no avail! I want to leave a comment, but all my stupid, frozen brain can think is "great article".

I don't know how this happens. I am not usually intimidated easily. One of the most abusive surgeons I ever met told me that he hated working with me because I was so hard to intimidate. (He actually liked working with me for this same reason, just not when he was in a certain mood.)

I do not feel inadequate, incompetent or inept in my life. I am one of the most competent people I know. I have been a single mom for most of my adult life. I support two children, a cat and a dog. We live in a beautiful home in a good neighborhood. I can change a tire, handle a screwdriver and a drill. If it needs to be put together or taken apart I can handle it.

I have never known myself to care what others think of me, why now? Could it be that I respect the opinion of the Hubbers I know more than that of many people I know in my "real" life? But it is more than that. I think I said it all in my first paragraph, Hubbers are magnificent.

So, my questions to all of you all are these:

1. Is it better to leave a mundane comment, than no comment at all?
2. Do others have this problem?

What I learned from this is that most hubbers would prefer if I left a comment, even if it's just "great article". We all like to know someone read our work. Commenting is one way of telling them.

Nowadays, when I come to a hub with several comments, I do not read any until I put my comment in. Then I will read what others have written. This method works well for me. Usually I can come up with a better comment than "great article".

However, 30% said they would rather not have a comment that just reads "great article". To them I say sorry. Sorry if I read your hub and leave a mundane comment. Please forgive me.