Mine is from someone I’d rather forget (and had done until I was inspired to write this thread)
It was…
“Peter, you have a way with words”
You have no idea what it feels like to hear that for someone who craves to be an author.
So what compliment did you receive that made you feel like you were on top of the world?
I would like to say that compliments from family members don’t count because they are genetically predisposed to complement you with a complete lack of truthfulness - especially your mum.
But I won’t.
One day my work partner didn’t come in, so I spent the day with a replacement. He had been a sub all over our company, but I’d never worked with him previously. At the end of the day, after having watched me run things, he said very simply and frankly, “You know Mach - you are a real pro.”
BTW: This is my standard question in getting-to-know-you situations. I’ve gotten some interesting responses.
I had a young lady who started in my Taekwondo school as a White Belt and worked up to 2nd Degree Black Belt before she left for college. When she started, she was tremendously shy. At her 2nd Degree testing, she was calm, poised, accurate and confident.
Just after her testing ended, her parents came up and said thanks. At least her dad did; her mother broke down and started to cry. She hugged SWMBO and me both and said, “Thank you both for what you have done for our daughter.”
That is why I teach. I’ll never make a penny out of that school and I lose money regularly. But I am touching people’s lives in a positive manner.
My sister and I were arguing about something once, and finally she just rolled her eyes and said with exasperation, “I don’t know why we’re even arguing, we both know you’re probably right.”
Somewhere during my later college years I had a part time file clerk job in a small law office. This was roughly in the Precambrian Era before the time of Internships, when jobs worked by college students weren’t expected to be professional training for what they were studying. Although, in some ways, that job showed me a talent I never knew I had, namely, remembering under what pile of paper in whose office I had seen something, two and a half weeks ago. But anyway, the daughter of one of the partners was about the same age, cute as hell, and also working as a gofer for the summer. That, and the way she would have me collect the sorted mail from her lap to pass out to the attorneys, almost makes me wonder if she was flirting. :).
Years later the lead singer of the band I was in said my guitar solos “got to him”. How cool is that? I don’t think I’m actually a terribly good lead player, rather I’m better at the fills and chords. The later story of that band is too bad; we had jettisoned the other guitarist, who was musically very much in the way, and were coalescing into a tight unit–then the singer, on a visit back East, got busted for a bar fight and put away for nearly a year on assault.
I can’t confirm that this was the highest compliment I’ve ever received, but it sticks in my mind. I was out partying with some friends, including a girl (Heather) who I’d just met and would subsequently become good friends with. I had gotten a little bit tipsy and garrulous, and after a while I apologized and said, “I must be impossible.”
She said, “You’re not impossible, dear, just improbable.”
From my husband. I received copies of my very first published book this week, and I’m not one to boast. He has taken it everywhere with him and shown everyone we know. His smile and his actions show that he’s so proud of me and loves me so much. And that’s the greatest compliment I’ve ever had.
“We’re so proud of you” from mom and dad. They never fail to support me just when I need it. I quit my job and went back to school full time, and now work part time for much less pay. There are times when I wonder what the heck I’m doing, but my folks help me to have faith in myself.
I got something along these lines but I think it was just to encourage me to put in a little more effort…
Other than that, “Cool shirt” seems to be the only genuine compliment I really get.
One of my bosses (Boss A) at my last job (small equine vet practice) called me “super tech” this spring. I tried my heart out for that job, I loved that job, and I was seemingly invisible to the other boss at the time (except when I was offending him by being too visible at doing my job when he was around). Boss A is one of the most honest and sincere people I know; he works hard and inspires those around him to work hard as well (or, at least, that is the effect he had on me). That was one of the best working relationships I have ever had. It was defined by a great deal of mutual respect and hard work on both sides. He is a large part of why I am pursuing the veterinary profession. I am friends with him and his wife, but that day was about him validating my work ethic and investment in my duties.
I was hangin’ around at a buddies house, drinking beer, that I brought myself (they don’t drink), gettin’ that 6-pack buzz and joking around with his kids. His son asked me something (I don’t remember what) and I gave him some kind of obtuse BS answer. He said to me, “Your a liar! I don’t trust you!”. I told him, “Smart boy! Never trust me with anything but your life”.
His dad, who *almost never *speaks, looks over at his kid and says with total seriousness, “Thats absolutely true. This man has saved my life many times. If its important, you can count on him.”
That made me feel pretty good. And I had saved his bacon once or twice. Not sure he would have “died”, except that one time. Or maybe it was just the beer?
Similar to Anaamika, I had a woman who had been friends with my grandma, who was a sweet, humble, loving person who never had a bad word to say about anyone, say to me that I looked just like her, and then, after we talked awhile, that I was just like her. sniffle
I do get a lot of ‘nice T-shirt’ comments, but as for a genuine compliment? I don’t really have anything that sticks out in my mind, and occasionally people will make positive remarks about my humor and intelligence, but apart from that I don’t really get complimented much ever, and definitely there hasn’t been any one defining super-powerful moment. Geez, now I feel kinda bummed out. Oh well.
