Why don't you people like Tom?!?!? Oh well, you have a right to your opinion. But I have to say that part along with the Old Forest, the Barrow-Downs, and Bree are my favorite parts of the book. Tom doesn't seem to add that much to the plot, but obviouly Tolkien put him in there for a reason. Maybe Tolkien put him in, and then discussed him at the Council of Elrond because he wanted to expand his role but in the end chose not to. And then maybe Tolkien found that he could not just simply leave Tom out. I know that I wouldn't leave him out, even if he didn't add to the plot, because there's no harm in keeping him there, and you want to keep something that you've worked so hard on. Maybe Tolkien did this to give use a little surprise, or to keep the plot slow, so it builds up suspense towards the end of the story, or maybe for the sake of the whole 'you will find help where you least expect it' part.
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I just hate that we don't know anything about him!
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Really?!?! That's one thing I love about him. He's an enigma, a mystery. He's something that you know little about and are allowed to use your own mind to make guesses on what he is. And some things are best left mysteries. It adds to the enchantment and mystical qualities of it. If we knew everything about Middle-earth, it think it might become boring and repetetive. And this site, the BD, would become boring and useless as there would be nothing really to discuss after short while when everything would have been said. So, there has to be aspects of mystery in Middle-earth, and they range so it's not drab and plain. I truly respect that from Tolkien.