Thursday 23 April 2009

Sensitivity in the New Man

I was paid a compliment by a woman who I know to be absolutely straight-talking yesterday. Not that she was straight talking just yesterday (which she was), she is a straight-talker, and I saw her yesterday.

You know what I mean. I'm lucky Dave doesn't come here with sentences like those.

Anyway, she said when she saw me that I was looking slimmer. I forget her actual words, but it was certainly a compliment; it's been almost a year since I saw this woman last, so any weight loss might seem more pronounced to her. I'm surprised she remembered what I look like, actually.

But I didn't take the compliment well. I don't get a lot of compliments, and if I do they're usually about my eyes, which let's face it are a genetic accident. I responded by saying: "No, I haven't lost any weight. I left some on the train, I have to pick it up from lost property on the way home."

Good response, I thought, but looking back, why on earth could I not just accept the compliment?

4 comments:

Z said...

Ah, but when someone says I look slimmer I hear 'you were fat'. It's an effort to take it simply as a compliment. Besides, you're witty & quick-thinking 'n' all.

Z said...

The other thing that I appreciate about the first paragraph is that you knew exactly how to write it to make sense from the start, but you chose not to. That is how a writer uses language. I'm not a writer, but I am a reader so I appreciate it.

I'm so drunk that I keep using a comma when I'm aiming for a full stop. Dammit. It's my husband's fault. He keeps plying me with much wine. I said half a bottle. I think it's much more.

Actually, it's a beautifully written post. I'd doff my cap, were I wearing one.

Z said...

Although, strictly, it should be 'whom', shouldn't it?

badgerdaddy said...

Drunk or not, thank you for the kind words.