…ideally one that was both genuine and that you had the confidence and self awareness to interpret as kind. And for bonus points, what’s one you’ve given?

I’m thinking back to the guy in group therapy years ago who told me he always thought of people who swore as not knowing any better words, but that I obviously knew better words and just also swore and even used them artistically and that’s just really stuck with me. Sometimes I wonder how much of my self esteem has suffered not just because I’ve been told not to brag, but also because I’m extremely weird so the compliments I do receive often reflect that.

My bonus one (and I’m not sure how well he was able to take it) was that one of my fellow psych nurses was frequently and obviously terrified any time shit hit the fan, but that somehow still he’d never once failed to have my back. He’d be stuttering the whole way through an incident but I’d walk out of the med room with both halves of a B52 and he’d take one of the syringes without a second thought. He was literally the epitome of “courage isn’t not being scared, it’s being willing to face it.” I should find a nice presentation of that quote somewhere to send him because I’m not sure I phrased it well at the time.

  • PlungeButter@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I was once walking past a gay bar with a buddy of mine. A drunk guy stumbled out, looked us both up and down and yelled “Phwoar! That’s a porno I wanna watch!”.

  • Noble Shift@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    From a French colleague:

    “You are the kind of Italian we like in France.”

    “Wonderful, but I’m American.”

    “I doubt that”

    • Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      I’ve had something similar quite a few times.

      Meet someone, talk for a bit, “where are you from?” u.s. “really? You don’t seem American”

      They meant it as a compliment

  • Furbag@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    A girl in college once told me I have “beautiful, horse-like legs”. I did martial arts at the time and my calves and thighs were very well toned, but I was actually a little self-conscious about them, and I had never considered horses to be particularly beautiful so I kind of took it as an insult after walking away from the conversation. It wasn’t until I relayed the story to a colleague a few months later that they told me it was probably a genuine compliment.

  • Godthrilla@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    The Miss “my state” came to sing the national anthem for a big sports event at my job. I took care of the sound for her and we chatted a little bit. She was constantly barraged by guys coming up and wanting a picture with her, so we didn’t get to have too much of a conversation. She sang the anthem, and was moving on to her next engagement and I said glad to meet you and was about to go back to the rest of my job. She stopped me and said " but we didn’t get a picture together!" I told her it was ok, I understand that it’s part of her job. She insisted and handed HER phone to someone walking by and insisted they take a picture of us. After they returned her phone she looked me in the eye and asked for my phone number so she could send it to me. I have a wonderful girlfriend and I would never cheat on her, but miss “my state” asked ME for my number, and I have been walking on air ever since.

    • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      Not weird, absolutely awesome. Still upvoted because that’s absolutely awesome.

      • BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        It is pretty weird to assume that everyone needs a picture of her. I look fuckable, take my picture, NOW.

        • GoosLife@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          She didn’t think he wanted a picture with her. She wanted a picture to remember him. And possibly as a way to get his phone number. She was crushing a little bit on the cool sound guy.

  • Agent641@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    It was the middle of summer and I was jogging the last leg of a 20km lake circuit with my shirt off, sweating like crazy, and a guy drove past, leaned out the window, and yelled “My wife likes what she sees!”

    Not especially weird compliment just weird that it came from the husband.

  • dhcmrlchtdj__@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I was dancing at a club a couple years ago and someone came up to me and yelled without pause “Are you a boy or a girl you’re gorgeous”

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    1 month ago

    Randomly stopped by a random guy as I was walked off the sky train “uhhh excuse me could you be a model for us?”

    Hands me a business card etc. I’m nothin special lol. I’m also a dude.

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    1 month ago

    A neighbor saw me walking barefoot to my mailbox and complimented me on my healthy feet.

    Hackles went up thinking he was some foot fetishist who was going to get weird on me. Nope, just a medical person of some sort that works with feet a lot and I genuinely have healthy arches and mobile toes. At least I choose to believe that explanation he gave. Otherwise, I have to assume my neighbor is jerking it every time I walk outside.

  • sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip
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    1 month ago

    A decade ago, I was walking a few blocks to get a burger, passed by a bar with an outdoor section.

    A fairly sloshed guy stared me up and down, looked at his female friend, back at me and asked “Hey, are you trisexual?”

    Being extremely awkward, significantly autistic, and apparently sufficiently twink, I responded “…sure?”

    Guy got up and kissed me on the cheek.

    I told him to have a nice night and went to get my burger.

    So… yeah. That was the night I discovered what a ‘twink’ is, that I am apparently a twink, and explains all the times I’ve been catcalled by other dudes.

    A shame that I am (basically) straight and only seem to date women who cheat on me or have immense mental health problems.

  • Monument@lemmy.sdf.org
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    1 month ago

    An ex from a meaningful, but fraught relationship tried to seduce me a few months after we had broken up. In the interim, I had started dating someone new, and I rejected the advances.

    My ex was angry and lashing out. She said a few random insults about my new partner (implying she had manipulated me with sex), before finally saying “well, I hope she enjoys your magical penis!” (It’s not magical. The tiny wizard hat is purely for decoration.)