Do you tell pretty girls that they're pretty?

[Rel]

I don't know that I'd say anything like "You have nice eyes" to another woman. To me, it wouldn't seem right.

So you'd talk nice about someone behind their back but not to their face, huh?

 

[Belen]

Your check is in the mail, sir.

By the way, I saw Mike at Danny's BBQ the other night and said hi to him. He was with a bunch of guys who looked like gamers.

Mike is a big fan of Danny's BBQ. He was probably there with his Magic:The Gathering buddies. They hang out at the store a lot. Of course, a lot of them game too. You should have seen the group I had for the Worldwide Game Day. It was a blast. Of course, the girls supplied messloads of candy, including pixie sticks, so they all had the sugar high from Hell.

 

[Ralts Bloodthorne]

A well timed, and appropriate compliment can brighten someone's day. It can take what is a horrible day and turn it slightly brighter, even make you feel better about yourself.

Example: The woman at the counter of Fred Meyers looked VERY frazzled, and I noticed she was wearing a Christmas time bracelet with small tokens. After she took my credit card, I complimented her on how nice it looked, and how it complimented her nail enamel.

Her whole face brightened, and she seemed to calm down.

Why? Because someone appreciated her, and recognised her efforts. Sure, it was some stranger, and sure, it wasn't that big of a deal, and no, it didn't cost me anything BUT that small thing made her feel better.

Oh, and my wife was standing next to me. It doesn't bother her.

 

[Desdichado]

Rel not intending to flirt has very little bearing on whether she thinks he is. How she takes it depends on exactly what he said, how he said it, and innumerable things going on in her life and in her head. If he's a really good communicator, he phrased his words and took a tone of voice that would minimize the likelyhood that she misunderstood. But there's no guarantees, you know.

Actually, it has all the bearing in the world. If Rel intended to flirt, he wouldn't walk out of her life never to be seen again. Even "innocent" flirting is kinda like playing chicken with infidelity, in a way, but it seems clear from context to me that this was no such thing in this case.

And since tossing that line out as he literally walked away, it doesn't really much matter if the gal thought she was being flirted with, or merely complimented, actually. It makes no real difference to either her or Rel whichever way she intends to interpret it.

 

[Desdichado]

While I appriciate you sharing your perspective, you cannot (and should not attempt to) make any guarantees about how "a woman" will take a compliment. Particularly a physical compliment. I am rarely flattered by them, especially from people I do not know well.

Fortunately, "pissing off staunch feminists with no sense of humor" falls directly after "telling a girl she looks pretty" on my List Of Things I Love To Do.

I wonder if we've had a bit of serendipity right here... :\

 

[Rel]

I wonder if we've had a bit of serendipity right here... :\

Don't fan the embers, Joshua.

 

[diaglo]

having three sisters i can tell you from experience it is never a good idea to tell them what you think about anything.

"does this make me look fat?"

fat? sis, you look like a beached whale.

 

[reveal]

having three sisters i can tell you from experience it is never a good idea to tell them what you think about anything.

"does this make me look fat?"

fat? sis, you look like a beached whale.

Wife: Honey, do these pants make my ass look big?

Ex-husband: No, your ass makes your ass look big.

 

[reveal]

Don't fan the embers, Joshua.

I think she could use a good "fire stoking."

 

[Dark Jezter]

Wife: Honey, do these pants make my ass look big?

Ex-husband: No, your ass makes your ass look big.

Or, as Al Bundy phrased it on an episode of Married With Children...

"It's not the dress that makes you look fat. It's the fat that makes you look fat."