What Do You Say?

So what exactly do you say to the waitress who talks about how she spent hundreds of dollars pursuing a college degree -- and then had to drop out because she couldn't physically keep up with her studies?

What do you say to a friend who has just been laid off? And what do you say what that same friend is required to remain on duty an additional month or so in order to train his or her replacement in a foreign land?

What do you say when your friend's spouse starts succumbing to the same illness that afflicted one of your late relatives? And what do you say when that same friend starts giving in to the various pressures of being his or her spouse's sole caregiver?

What do you say to the single mother who has been beat up by both of her two ex-husbands?

And what do you say to the single mother who talks about giving up her current job for a more respectable position, only to end up sticking with the status quo because the more respectable job doesn't pay enough money?

What do you say to the friend whose younger sibling goes in and out of mental hospitals?

What do you say to the friend whose daughter keeps talking about wanting to leave her abusive live-in boyfriend yet never does so?

What do you say in a situation in which just saying nothing hardly seems like an adequate response -- yet anything else seems worse?