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?
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4 comments:
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.
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.
Although, strictly, it should be 'whom', shouldn't it?
Drunk or not, thank you for the kind words.
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