Once I was walking out of a Target. I passed by a woman and her maybe 6 or 7 year year old kid just in time to hear the kid say “mommy that guy creeps me out”.
Thanks to three concussions before age 5… and my entire 20’s being spent in a drug haze… my memory is pretty shot. But I remember that encounter as clear as day.
I’m sure I’ve received a few honest to goodness unsolicited compliments, but they don’t stick in my mind as much as the derision.
I once had a kid stop and tell her mom I was the most beautiful man she’d seen because I had colorful highlights. I also had another kid stop and tell her mom that I was cute before said highlights. I never forgot those moments
I’m a trans woman. Before I transitioned, the grand total number of compliments I ever received was a big fat 0. Now I receive at least one compliment from strangers every week.
Also a trans woman, same experience. Somehow getting compliments all the time has been one of the hardest parts to adjust to. Dunno how to respond to them, and can’t distinguish which ones are creepy because they all feel good after so long of getting none.
I really do think this is a straight man experience. There are no shortage of compliments among gay men and not in a sexual way. I do wish it were more common among men in general to compliment each other without people making it weird or thinking there must be an underlying reason for it besides just being kind to one another.
Sometimes it’s where the compliments come from. I get no shortage of compliments about my work, but those barely move the needle emotionally, I’ve always been a lot of labor for a lot of people, being recognized in that light isn’t exactly flattering. In fact it’s the only light I feel I get any recognition in.
Yeah, I imagine, it’s reversed for many women. That they get compliments about their looks a lot, but would feel much more strongly about a once-in-5-years compliment on their work…
I bought a cool looking car and I get compliments for it all the time now. It makes us feel wanted in society. Not like wanted by family but wanted outside of it too.
I was at a random hotel in London for work and was wearing a pretty nice suit. There was a mirrored column near the door and nobody about so I was adjusting my jacket since I’d been wearing a backback. The girl who worked behind the reception (probably 23 and quite attractive, I’m 36) walked past and said “Hey, you look really good.”
Absolutely made my day and I even excitedly told my girlfriend when I got home. It was possibly the only unprompted compliment from a stranger I’ve ever received.
I played music back in the day. Nothing huge but we played every weekend and were known in the area. I went into a guitar shop to check out a Jackson and thinking I might actually buy one because we were doing so well. They put me into the “special” room with a Messa Boogie half stack and I went off. Look down out the pick guard and I had shredded a pick all over it in dust. Not completely, just not brand new.
I looked up and some kid around 8 or 9 looks up and me and says “you’re awesome!”. Still my favorite music moment. Even better than seeing a mosh pit while on stage.
She was the sister of a friend who worked at a coffee shop I frequented. It’s not like she saw me covered in filth and randomly went out of her way, lol
Not who you're responding to, but I'll admit my mental image was something like Cricket in the later seasons of It's Always Sunny. I'm not proud of it, but I do appreciate the clarification.
Almost ten years ago, I was walking and as a car drove by, a woman inside it yelled something at me. I couldn’t hear what she said but I assumed she was catcalling me. That memory warms me to this day.
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