A Compliment

How many years ago did I write my previous post? :p I’m sorry, I’m having a complete overhaul of my house and everything is out of whack. As I’m writing this, I’m fighting watery eyes and burning lungs from the paint primer fluid. One more month to go… I didn’t even have internet for 5 days straight! By the 3^rd day, I had lost my will to live.

Construction happening at home

 

A detailed look into the physical and psychological impact of construction activity on my mind later, now let’s rush straight to this topic, because it’s unusual for me, and I’d rather write it down before it slips my mind.

I’m one of those people who has never had anyone walk up to them to say something, unless they’re asking for directions. I’ve never even made small talk with strangers on flights or long train journeys (it’s been on my to-do list forever though), I barely even make eye contact with anyone long enough to register their face, so I was pleasantly surprised on unexpectedly getting a compliment.

I was out with a friend doing an errand, and just as we were heading home, I noticed a guy, about my age approach from the opposite direction. We were lost in our conversation to pay further heed to him, but as he got within earshot, he called out to me. “Yes?” I looked at him expecting to be asked directions to somewhere. “Nice tshirt”. I think I immediately looked to the ground, and muttered “Thanks”. Both of us were on our way again, but I kept analyzing the incident for quite some time afterwards. I’m not used to receiving compliments, and indeed the only half hearted compliments ive got are from people who needed a favour. This guy needed nothing and wasn’t trying to scam me out of my money, then why did I have such a reaction to his compliment? In hindsight I believe he deserved a smile and a clearly audible “Thank you”, but in the moment I acted surprised, maybe even disbelieving of him.

A simple “nice tshirt” did make me feel good for the rest of the day though, and I’ve decided to pass the favour to someone else. Having set a

My mind, on getting that compliment

mental task of 1 genuine compliment a day to anyone, I’m making good progress since the past couple of days, making some people smile, others chit chat for a minute, and a few other people have an expression like “What did you just say?”