I often get comments about the way I usually sit - with my legs folded underneath me, or crossed indian-style. I do it because my legs are short and my feet don’t touch the floor comfortably in most chairs.
Sometimes from total strangers: “How can you sit like that?” or “I wish I could sit like that” or “My sister/ex-wife/girlfriend sits like that all the time”.
Oh, and I share a name with a famous person (quite famous in his field, anyway) who is now dead, so growing up I would inevitably get a joke/comment from each of my teachers on the first day of class. Thankfully, people my own age and younger generally don’t know or give a damn about this person, so as I’ve gotten older that has pretty much stopped happening.
Eleanor, you remind me – my EYEBROW. Good lord, you’d think I was the only person who had the ability to raise one eyebrow. People are always commenting on it. “Wow, how do you do that??”
I think it intimidates people and they have to diffuse their discomfort. Muhahaha, sayth I.
The only ones I usually get are “you’re so quiet,” and the command to SMILE! I have three sisters, and if I had a dollar for every time we’ve been told, “Gee, you girls all look so much alike!”…
Let me take a moment here to rant a little bit about having a quiet voice. I would appreciate it if people would pay attention and at least try to hear what I’m saying instead of instantly asking me to repeat it. Do you know how many times I repeat myself in an average day? Lots. If it was just a case of talking louder, I would have done it decades ago - just like your voice is naturally normal or loud, my voice is naturally soft.
Either there are a lot of tall people on the Dope, or (more likely) there are way too many people that feel the need to tell tall people that they are tall.
I’m 6’5". I’m not a freak, there are people taller than me. But still, I get the comments. They don’t really bother me, but my fiance is 6’ and she really gets annoyed by the comments.
Her “favorite” is “Wow you’re tall. Do you play basketball?” To which I’ve seen her respond with “Wow you’re short. Are you a jockey?” and she told me that she wanted to say"Wow you’re fat. Are you a sumo wrestler?" I’m really glad she held her tongue on that one.
The only sarcastic response I genrally use is “Wow, you have a firm grasp on the obvious.”
Wow, am I glad I’m unremarkable in appearance and of average height. Some people say really stupid things.
Dolores. Duh!
No, not really.
Comments on my goofy name and people breaking out in song; that happens all the time.
Being told I look younger than I am–especially when I mention my grandson. “You’re not old enough to be a gramma!” “That’s right, I’m not. Didn’t stop my daughter from having the kid.”
People telling me to “smile!” That’s just my face, people, leave me alone.
I also get comments on my long, red, wavy hair and strangers touching my hair. I have a co-worker who “grooms” me whenever she and I are standing around talking. She starts braiding my hair, or combing it out with her fingers…I’m sure to other people is seems a little strange. It doesn’t bother me, but I’m not sure how it all started or why.
It was nice to introduce my friend Roxanne to my friend Stella. They were each quite grateful to meet someone who understood what it was like to have people constantly yelling their names as soon as they were introduced.
Me, I have the same first name as a famous actress from before I was born, and that’s what I heard for the first twenty years of my life. (It’s become a bit more common since then, and the actress has become more obscure, so I don’t get that comparison any more.)
I am trying to figure out how to explain this without … er … naming names. Please bear with me:
When I was 22, someone said “[firstname] - oh, you mean like [a major global political and religious leader]?”
I was gobsmacked. I share a first name (an uncommon one, but not too uncommon - it’s not George, but it’s not Adolph, either) with a major political and religious leader (who lived and died in the 20th century), and I had no idea until I was 22. Now that I know more members of that community, I get it all the time.
I have large eyes. Not a lot of people comment on my appearance, but if they do – that’s it. And inane comments too: “Wow, you have really big eyes.” Most of the time it’s a compliment (I’m guessing?) but there isn’t really anything complimentary about it. The exchange I remember is this one:
RANDOM GUY IN A BAR: You have really big eyes.
ME: Yeah.
RGIAB: Are they real?
ME: 
Are my eyes real?
RGIAB: No, no; I meant is the color real? Or are you wearing contacts?
ME: Both. It’s a real color and I’m wearing contacts.
RGIAB: But are they colored contacts?
ME: No.
RGIAB: So those are your real eyes, huh?
Me: I’m walking away now.
Every time I haven’t been able to decide whether someone was from England or from Australia/New Zealand, they’ve turned out to be from South Africa.
I get a lot of “pbbth, that is my mom/sister/daughter/cousin’s name!” Or, “That is a beautiful biblical name.” Followed by an inapropriate religious question like, “What church do you go to?” I always want to tell them that I am pagan but most of the time the people are customers or friends of family or whatever and I don’t want to cause them to be uncomfortable.
I get this a lot, as well as “What’s wrong?” Of course, I provide a double whammy: I’ve been told that I have a somber look on my face and a sad tone to my voice. It doesn’t make any sense to me–in general, I’m one of those sickeningly optimistic people.
Due to my accent, I’ve also been asked whether I’m English/Spanish/German/French/etc. I wish. (I’ve never left the US.)
Ellen Cherry; my dad and I do the eyebrow thing too!
When I first moved to Sydney and Dad showponied me around to his friends who I hadn’t seen since I was five, I always got, without fail, “You look just like your mother.” Which I don’t mind because I think she’s a goodlooking broad. And then I go “Yes, I do.” And they jump and say “You sound just like her too.” Which is true.
When Dad and I do the eyebrow thing though, it’s usually at the same time, in the same direction. Very strange because we have similar mannerisms too. No matter how hard I try, there is no way I’m not directly related to these freaks.
Ah yes, “You’re quiet.” I usually respond with a simple “ok.” People often treat it like a handicap, and feel you need to come out of your shell. I also get “you look tired.” Odds are that I haven’t got enough sleep, but I assure people that the dark spots under my eyes are natural.
The polite ones: ‘Boy, you have long hair.’
The not so polite ones: ‘Boy, you’re fat.’
The really annoying ones: ‘You’re quiet, aren’t you?’
Yep me too.
The smart-ass ones: ‘Funny, you dont look like a Japanese goblin.’ 
Yeah, I get that too, or they think I’m angry with them.
It seems a lot of people have trouble with my surname. Jinks. It’s really not that unusual, especially around this area.