BY PAMELA JO BOWMAN, MESA ARIZONA – A few years ago, my husband and I traveled “down home.” This trip takes a minimum of seven hours. I decided to see how long it would take before he instigated a conversation. We pulled into the driveway seven hours later and he put the vehicle in park. He looked at me and said, “We’re here.”

I often play that game with friends and acquaintances. How long will it be before they ask me a question? Will they even ask me a question? It’s NOT as if I don’t ask questions. My children are always giving me grief for asking too many questions. But I am interested in what they are thinking and doing, so I ask and then I listen.

Once I told a friend about something I was doing. I volunteered the information. He said, “Why didn’t you tell me that you do that?” I responded, “Why didn’t you ask?” Some friends tell me that asking questions is prying into people’s business. I disagree. I believe it is showing a genuine interest in others and it would be nice if others were genuinely interested in my life as well.

“We’re here.” Not sure how we got here, but it looks like we’ll be here for a while .. until someone figures out that we should maybe be somewhere else. Don’t want to pry but I have a question for you. “Is here where you want to be?”