I go somewhere else with that. I just exceedingly rarely get them in the first place, and for the majority of my life anyway, I think my countenance told you, you better not go there. Nowadays though, they really don't affect me, primarily because I discount them. You have to admit, you've no idea whether they mean it or not, and since it's so much a part of buttering you up, I consider it false, depending on who tells me. Then, there are certainly times when it seems true, so then I tell myself that it's true NOW, but especially with women, one day she'll remember that compliment as use it as a weapon against you, should you get her mad. IOW, my thinking is that compliments are usually false, or exaggerated, and when they're not, they're temporary. They may mean it in the split second they said it, but they'll find a flaw somewhere and a week later they don't think the same way about it. I never asked if they did mean it or not later (not caring), but I'm pretty sure that's the case, plus, you're never really sure what their motivation was. For example, I've on at least a couple of occasions had a girl do or say something which ordinarily you would think as a compliment of sorts, yet there was a group of guys around her, as if she's doing it just to entice one or more of them (make them jealous). You also have to wonder, if it was just her pickup line. I think generally I'll make a rather sheepish reaction to a compliment, because they are so rare and spaced out, probably never more than one from the same person. This means in large part I don't believe it as my base reaction, so I will outwardly act a bit as if I do, but meanwhile in many cases I'm inside telling myself they don't mean it. IOW, I'm telling myself to not make myself vulnerable and be willing to do anything I wouldn't do otherwise (don't let their compliment get them on a roll with me). My defense is always covered, for like I said earlier, even if they mean it, for how long?
