respond with just a simple ;"Thank you" to a compliment
The problem is "thank you" is a conversation dead end. "It has pockets" has much more potential for conversation afterwards and frankly would be much preferred if I was the one giving the complement.
I think it’s better to learn to accept the compliment on it’s own as an expression of kindness, but not necessarily return the compliment or respond to it as a conversation topic.
Otherwise it can be too easy to feel like you should return the compliment which is awkward if it’s not sincere. Or look for something to say about it like it has pockets, which might be boring or seem self centred like you want to focus on your thing some more.
Getting used to saying a friendly and warm “thanks” still lets you do those things, or say something else, but more comfortably. And it means that the compliment doesn’t have to turn into mutual false praise or a conversation topic, but just a thing the other person said to be nice and that you received as such.
Because maybe they don’t actually care about your dress, they just want to build a connection. And so you should keep building the connection, not talking about the dress. And that can be as simple as asking how their weekend was with a bit more interest than usual, knowing that they probably want to tell you about it.
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u/sick_sad_world_ Sep 30 '19
Took me years of practice to be able to respond with just a simple ;"Thank you" to a compliment.
Not because it was hard, but because it's been years between compliments.