Skip to main content

Compliments 5

It's been a while since I've talked about the random compliments that people seem to throw my way, so I figure it's time to remedy that. I don't quite know what it is that leads to some of these comments, since it's not like I go out of my way to ask people to try to say nice things about me. Though "nice" might be a bit of a stretch, since some of these comments are so strange that they fall more into the category of "seriously?" than "wow, thanks."

With that as a backdrop, though, let me get right to it:

  • Me: "Eh, work's kinda lame right now"
    Friend: "What?! But you love your job, and you're always so happy about it"

    This is precisely what I mean. On the surface, that sounds like a good thing. Who doesn't want to do something they enjoy? But if you think about it, I think my friend just called me either gullible or a chump. I mean, everyone has bad days and there are always little frustrations that come up whenever you have to interact with a bunch of other people. It's almost like she was questioning my sanity a little bit, wasn't it?
  • Coworker: "You have a good head for shaving. It has a good shape."

    I shave my head. When I do this, it can lead to some very interesting comments from others. Of course, I have absolutely no control over this, and I'm not sure it's even something that's worth bragging about. Heck, I've never even noticed before.
  • Nurse: "Oh, look at that. You've got good veins. I didn't even apply the tourniquet and I can already see them"

    I needed to have blood drawn, and this was what resulted when I talked to the nurse. This was another one over which I had no control. It's not like she was telling me I had done good work and kept my blood pressure down. I could actually be proud of something like that, since it'd mean I personally took actions that led to a positive result. But no, I was just born that way. The funniest part is that there is zero value to this other than when I have to deal with hospitals.
  • Coworker: "Wow, you type fast"

    You know why this one makes me laugh? There's very little inherent value in the speed at which I type. The content that I type is why I get paid, and if I could somehow guarantee that I could produce that content quickly, then it'd be helpful. But I can't really do that. I don't get paid to produce lines of code, I get paid to produce well-designed code. More often than not, that means *less* typing. The hard part is figuring out *what* to type, and no amount of typing fast is going to help with that.
  • (My friend is very, very upset after some dealings with a romantic partner)
    Friend: "Incidentally, I'm impressed that you're being so calm through all this"

    Apparently everyone else she had talked to had worked themselves into a frenzy upon hearing this story. So either I'm one of her least crazy friends, or I'm not good at sympathetic outrage. I'm not entirely sure which of the two I should be rooting for, to be honest.
Of course, as I've said before, I'd much rather have people throw odd compliments my way than insults. Though since this is me we're talking about, I'm highly amused that these compliments come my way.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nicknames Again

In a post from a while back , I mentioned that people around me end up with nicknames fairly frequently. It's not always my doing, but I am more than happy to play along. Of course, the best part isn't the actual nickname, it's always the back story that leads to the nickname. And since it's been a while since that previous post, I've picked up a few more stories about nicknames that are worth a chuckle. So, without further ado, I present to you: "ADT" You know how people pay for security systems for their houses? One of the most well-known companies is called ADT . My brother likes to say that he has no need for said security systems because one of his neighbors is constantly on the lookout for what's going on in the neighborhood. She's like a one-person neighborhood watch, complete with a side of the neighborhood gossip. He has actually come home and had her tell him about the comings and goings of his wife. My brother's smart aleck str...
Post a Comment
Read more

All Good Things ...

August 8, 2009. Over twelve years ago, I started blogging with this simple post . I didn't really have a great reason for starting the blog, other than I wanted to try it out. I wanted to try writing and putting it where others could read it. I don't know, it just seemed like a new adventure to try. Along the way, there have been all sorts of posts and all sorts of life events, but through it all, I kept writing. It just became a part of what I do at some point. It wasn't a matter of whether I was going to write a blog post, it was a matter of when. The Mild Wife has described it as a "writing practice," and it was one of the reasons why I kept writing. Honestly, it's good practice, and it gives me an opportunity to hone my craft. I'm no professional author, but we all have to write stuff in our everyday lives. Why not give yourself reps to get better at it? However, I think it's time for that practice to change. My weekly anecdotes sure kept me amused...
Post a Comment
Read more

Timer

There are a bunch of everyday tasks around the Mild Home that require waiting some amount of time. Say I put want to put something in the oven, I need to make sure that I take it out after a set amount of time. I mean, bad things happen if you leave food in the oven for a long time. If you're lucky, it's just inedible; if you're unlucky, then the smoke alarm is involved. Quite a few of them involve food (steep the tea for X minutes, uncover the pot after Y minutes, etc.), so that should come as no surprise. However, I recently had to use baking soda and vinegar to help unclog a sink. As I discovered, you don't just dump those things down the sink. You wait 5-10 minutes after mixing those ingredients in the sink, to let them do their thing. Otherwise, it just fizzes for a bit, and nothing really happens. In either case, I needed to wait for a set amount of time. Now, when it comes to setting a timer, I have a few options. There are timers on the stove and on my cell phon...
Post a Comment
Read more