Umm....Thank You. I Think.

Have you ever received a compliment that made you feel worse than if you had never heard it at all? Worse, not because of the message, but because of the messenger. I was riding my bicycle through the fine little Hamlet of Exeter this past week. It's a small town. When I cycle through the downtown area I usually ride in the middle of the road with the traffic. This keeps me visible and hopefully safe. Well, I was riding along when the car coming from the opposite direction came to a rolling stop next to me. The woman driver had an "I'm lost" look on her face. I assumed she was needing directions so I stopped to help. When we pulled next to each other there was an awkward pause while I waited to see what she wanted. It seems she was not lost, but just wanted to tell me that "Those are some sexy legs." Umm.....thanks??

Now I don't want to speak ill of this lady. But she was Old. I would guess that she was from between 5 and 20 years older than me. I have never been good judging age. Now, I'm not an ageist. I won't say that she was unattractive...(I don't want to be mean)...but she was for sure not my type. So I just said thanks and pedaled my way out of there.

I know she meant to be nice, but for some reason I feel like the attributes of the messenger reflect on me. Older....a few degrees short of hot....Is that me? If Hitler told you that you were a Hell of a Guy, how would you feel about that? I'm not saying this lady hates Jews or has her eyes set on world domination, but still.

As I rode on home I thought about compliments in general. Do we need them? I know I don't. I always feel like they are phony or have some mysterious  motivation. I know that sounds like I have low self esteem or something but I don't. I LOVE myself. I just wonder why anyone else would care one way or the other. Do most people need a ego boost from random compliments? They shouldn't. Self love should come from within. Who cares what other people think? In my perfect world everybody would be responsible for their own ego and Schmoozing would just be bad form. I know it would never work. Some guy trying to get laid would break that compact in no time at all. That's why Socialism won't work. Somebody will always try harder and screw things up for the rest of us. 

Or, maybe she was just coming on to me. Who knows. 

I do want to say though, that if you are reading this (and you are) than you have Amazing Taste and must be an Awesome Person.