You got pretty! Otherwise titled, "Six pounds and bright red lipstick go a long way..."
The kids and I visited my former place of employment yesterday...our favorite school on the southdiiidde of San Antonio. For anyone who's ever been insecure and starved for attention, you should seriously consider teaching kindergarten. You become some sort of quasi-celebrity. Countless throngs were practically clamoring for my autograph.
"Mrs. Harrison! Over here! Give us a smile!"
"Where did you go, Mrs. Harrison?" they ask. It's obvious they had completely forgotten my existance until the very second I had walked into the cafeteria. "I live close to the mountains! And it snows in the winter!" I could have said, "I live in a cartoon world! And we fly on rainbows to get to work!" and I would have gotten the same reaction: wide eyes and gaping mouths. Poor little sheltered babies hardly make it to the north side of San Antonio.
So I give hugs to all the staff and explain how we're in Texas and yes, I'm homeschooling, and yes, we still live in Idaho, and yes, we love it there, and no, we haven't retreated back to San Antonio in shame and disgrace. A few sweet teachers look me up and down and say, "You look great!" (The Texas food hasn't hit my hips yet. It's coming. Oh yes, my friend...it's coming.) But one teacher's aide gave me a big ol' hug and said, "You got pretty!" I laugh and brush her off, mentally noting that this one goes in the blog.
I've done this before myself. "You got skinny!" I say this to anyone who has lost weight. Even if I didn't know them that well in the first place or if they were losing weight privately. I do it because I think I'd rather compliment someone and embarass them a little than not compliment someone as if I didn't notice that they look good. Maybe I'm wrong for that. Or I'll give generic compliments like "You look great/awesome/better than ever!" And I'm being 100% sincere...I don't just start throwing out adjectives to win friends and influence people. Because if that were the case my adjectives would be "stupendous/splendiferous/dy-no-mite!/I'm-going-to-kill-myself-because-you-look-so-good". I don't think that last one was an adjective.
I have no doubt this lovely teacher's aide was being as sincere and sweet as anyone ever could be. I also have a bad habit of not caring what I look like. Or caring what everyone else thinks about how I look. Call it confidence. Call it laziness. I prefer clazidence.
The only exception is when I meet Will for lunch at the Coldwater Creek headquarters. All the female (and not female workers if you know what I mean) are quite fashion-forward. Me showing up in my t-shirt and cut-offs doesn't fly well in a room full of fashionistas. And fashionnisters.
So the lesson learned is that it pays to care. Otherwise I'm going to get some jackhole coming up to me a year from now saying, "OMGosh! I can't remember the last time I saw you with your hair brushed! And look! You've covered up all your freckles and break-outs with make-up! You look AMAZING!!!"
http://here-in-idaho.blogspot.com/
"Mrs. Harrison! Over here! Give us a smile!"
"Where did you go, Mrs. Harrison?" they ask. It's obvious they had completely forgotten my existance until the very second I had walked into the cafeteria. "I live close to the mountains! And it snows in the winter!" I could have said, "I live in a cartoon world! And we fly on rainbows to get to work!" and I would have gotten the same reaction: wide eyes and gaping mouths. Poor little sheltered babies hardly make it to the north side of San Antonio.
So I give hugs to all the staff and explain how we're in Texas and yes, I'm homeschooling, and yes, we still live in Idaho, and yes, we love it there, and no, we haven't retreated back to San Antonio in shame and disgrace. A few sweet teachers look me up and down and say, "You look great!" (The Texas food hasn't hit my hips yet. It's coming. Oh yes, my friend...it's coming.) But one teacher's aide gave me a big ol' hug and said, "You got pretty!" I laugh and brush her off, mentally noting that this one goes in the blog.
I've done this before myself. "You got skinny!" I say this to anyone who has lost weight. Even if I didn't know them that well in the first place or if they were losing weight privately. I do it because I think I'd rather compliment someone and embarass them a little than not compliment someone as if I didn't notice that they look good. Maybe I'm wrong for that. Or I'll give generic compliments like "You look great/awesome/better than ever!" And I'm being 100% sincere...I don't just start throwing out adjectives to win friends and influence people. Because if that were the case my adjectives would be "stupendous/splendiferous/dy-no-mite!/I'm-going-to-kill-myself-because-you-look-so-good". I don't think that last one was an adjective.
I have no doubt this lovely teacher's aide was being as sincere and sweet as anyone ever could be. I also have a bad habit of not caring what I look like. Or caring what everyone else thinks about how I look. Call it confidence. Call it laziness. I prefer clazidence.
The only exception is when I meet Will for lunch at the Coldwater Creek headquarters. All the female (and not female workers if you know what I mean) are quite fashion-forward. Me showing up in my t-shirt and cut-offs doesn't fly well in a room full of fashionistas. And fashionnisters.
So the lesson learned is that it pays to care. Otherwise I'm going to get some jackhole coming up to me a year from now saying, "OMGosh! I can't remember the last time I saw you with your hair brushed! And look! You've covered up all your freckles and break-outs with make-up! You look AMAZING!!!"
http://here-in-idaho.blogspot.com/
posted by Will at 9/08/2006 10:48:00 AM
3 Comments:
Those back-handed compliments crack me up... and I have been guilty of passing them out myself.
Yeah, those are the compliments that make you go, "hmmmm". But I think she meant it in a nice way.
It was like the day I went to pick up my son from school wearing a skirt, my hair actually done and with makeup on. All things that rarely happen. The kids looking at me like I was a supermodel.. or maybe an alien. Then one girl came up and said, "Patrick's Mom, you look sooooooooooo pretty today". It was sweet but made me feel lame for looking like crap warmed over every other day.
Point taken. I will amend my compliment-giving.
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