Asking for what you need can be a gamble. Maybe no one is interested in listening. Possibly you aren't even sure what the problem is, much less the solution. Sometimes the sheer background noise makes talking futile. 

Perhaps this contributes to the popular, if unsuccessful, practice of relying on the other person's ability to read minds. 

One of the reasons I adore little kids is that they eschew such tomfoolery. If they want pancakes for breakfast, they will jolly well tell their mom. Loudly, if need be. No self-respecting five-year-old would risk Santa not knowing what to bring, so they make sure to either spell it out in large block letters or trust their parents to relay the information. Leaving the choice of gifts to luck is too big a risk. 

I notice that businesses gave up on the mind reading option years ago. It has been a long time since a bill appeared in my mailbox with a variation of vagueness. 

"It's the first of the month. You know, time to, er, cough it up. "

Yet with all these role models to follow, I still fade into the old limping pattern of doing without. Without the sense of community I am craving, without the breakfast that makes getting out of bed worth it. 

It's funny, but even God, the one who actually can read my mind, is open for requests. 

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Matthew 7