YOur subject line says it all. They really don't and really don't want to. They are filling the air. That is so frustrating yet we do it. You really only need one person willing to just listen. I GET THAT TOO. I have one friend who calls and says "How are you, and I mean YOU?" I'll answer honestly and she'll say "Can I help in anyway?" Then, I'll answer and she simply accepts my answer. The discussion then moves on to her law school challenges and nicely pulls me away from my world of cancer husband. She is the only one who gets what this does for me. She makes me laugh and makes me think. She is okay too with just listening to me cry. She doesn't try to solve my problems or tell me a story of another person. She just listens. She is also my husband's friend and does the same for him. Unfortunately, the world stopped "just listening" too long ago. Find that one person and call them. Call them twice a day if you have to and try not to talk to the others as much as possible. Also, I use my husband's blog site on caringbridge dot org to update others. This greatly reduced the amount of calling and subsequent "story telling".