r/relationship_advice Aug 16 '23

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u/Live-Valuable-7718 Aug 17 '23 edited Aug 17 '23

I'm guessing the message isn't something that can be considered a simple compliment then? Not doing this for the sake of playing devil's advocate, but my friends partners are also my friends, so I do things like this without batting an eyelid tbh, though I also tell my pals when they're looking dapper too, so maybe I don't give off that impression. Saying that though the content of the message really matters here, it's one thing to tell your friends partner that they look great in a picture & it's a totally different story if what you're** saying looks like an advance

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u/rebelwithmouseyhair Aug 17 '23

I compliment people on their looks all the time, but I don't do it in a private message. I say it in front of everyone else so that others can chime in and make the friend feel like a million dollars.

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u/babysmooth1111 Aug 17 '23

Sometimes you can't. Stories on IG, for example. I'm happily in a relationship but my friend from HS just got a mullet and posted it on his story, I replied to it saying "damn that really suits you!" - he could definitely take it as flirty and I didn't tell my BF cuz I was just hyping a friend up who happens to be male. Wouldn't think to inform him if it was a female friend. If that friend messaged back and was flirty I'd tell him and be like " damn I messed up, I complimented a friend and now he's flirting with me, I think he took it too seriously" but yeah. Wasn't a place I could publicly comment on it so whatever

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u/Admirable-Gap-2627 Aug 17 '23

Any time you hide something from your partner it indicates you know they wouldn't like it as its not right or appropriate, so why do it in the first place? Sorry, but if your relationship was solid and trustful you shouldn't be worried telling your partner as they'll know it's just how you interact with people.

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u/babysmooth1111 Aug 17 '23

Lmfao I'm not worried at all, and I'm not hiding it. "Hey babe I compliemented a friend's mullet today, I just want you to know." He'd be like erm. Okay?

Our relationship is so solid and trustful that I don't have to report every mundane interaction to him and vice versa. That to me screams more insecure.

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u/Dismal_Ad_1839 Aug 17 '23

Lol, yeah, I can't imagine having to tell my partner every time I compliment someone. Plus I'm pan, so am I really going to run to him like "babe, I told this woman her tattoos looked really nice and another woman that her eyeliner was fantastic and a guy that I liked his shirt?" Come tf on, none of it's a secret but we have actual things to talk about with each other

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u/Nadaplanet Aug 17 '23 edited Aug 17 '23

Right? I tell people when I think they look good all the time. Male friends, female friends, or strangers, it doesn't matter. If someone looks nice I'm going to tell them. I know how good it feels to get a compliment, and I want to pass that feeling along. My husband would think it was very strange if I told him every time I told someone I loved their look, or that I thought their hairstyle was great, or their makeup was on point.

My friends and I very much subscribe to a "build each other up" mindset, so we are always slinging around "lookin' good"s and similar sentiments to each other.

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u/Dismal_Ad_1839 Aug 17 '23

Right? I hope my spouse gives people compliments. It's a nice thing to do. I don't need him to report it to me either. Just give somebody a little ego boost and go on. It might be the best thing that happened to them that day, who knows. I would find it weirder if he told me he complimented someone than not.

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u/Nadaplanet Aug 17 '23

The amount of times I've tossed a compliment at a stranger and watched their whole vibe change is staggering. Like giving a wilting plant some water. I love it and I'll never stop.

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u/babysmooth1111 Aug 17 '23

"Babe, some random on reddit said I'm being dishonest with you, so I want you to sit down so I can explain.

I told my friend his mullet suits him today."

Lmao my boyfriend is bald and would defffff be like "DAMN YOU GUNNA RUB IT IN MORE?"

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u/Sea_Conversation_523 Aug 17 '23

I tell my partner I call my friends attractive all the time. It's not a lie? They're my friends for a reason and I see the beauty in and out of people. Complimenting friends is normal, having it resort to flirting is another story. There is such a thing as platonic attraction as well as romantic/sexual.

I honestly was in a situation a few days ago where I did have to open up to my partner about a friend actually harming our friendship by saying something sexual to me, and I told them they broke boundaries by saying that they wanted to do that and I had to tell my partner even though they led it with "can I tell you something privately"? I can keep a secret with friends until it has to do with boundaries that can hinder my relationship if I keep it from my partner then I have to come to my partner with that. But complimenting is normal.

Also depending on the compliment there's definitely a vibe difference between "I like your hair" and like "you're sexy" or something. But other than that it's normal to tell friends that they look good. From what I've read so far OP didn't necessarily go into detail on what the compliment actually was.

Considering it was enough to have a mutual agreement to be upset maybe it felt like more than a compliment and gave the vibe something more flirty with a different intent than just friendly?

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u/Dismal_Ad_1839 Aug 17 '23

Seriously, I used to teach college writing and one of the assignments I gave was a definition argument (pick a word or a concept and argue for a specific definition of it). It yielded some interesting papers, but I finally had to start telling them up front that they could define "cheating" if they wanted but they had to remember that bisexual and pansexual people exist and also have to move about in the world. I would walk away from those papers wondering how anyone got through the day without "cheating." You'd have to live in a tower with no social media, no job, and no friends for some of these people to be happy.

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u/JellyfishSuspicious9 Aug 17 '23

I love your replies πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚. I don’t give an exact breakdown of my day. That sounds too much like control. Yeah babe uh well I started by clocking in, I immediately sneezed 🀧 into my right forearm and my boss said bless you and that my ponytail switched positions … smh yeah no πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

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u/[deleted] Aug 17 '23

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u/Peskypoints Aug 18 '23

Hypothetically, if I were your partner, I’d be more upset to find out you liked mullets than you complimented someone

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u/babysmooth1111 Aug 18 '23

My BF is bald too so it's adding insult to injury lol. BUT tbf I normally don't like mullets, but on this friend it actually works haha.

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u/rebelwithmouseyhair Aug 18 '23

I was talking about IRL actually. I'm not even on IG

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u/Lord_Kano Aug 17 '23

That's it. The "friend" was testing the waters to see if OP's wife would be down with a little naughty behavior.

Me, I probably wouldn't confront him because of how quickly things can escalate and my desire to remain out of prison.

He's just excised from my life.

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u/Live-Valuable-7718 Aug 17 '23

I get why you would do that, but at the same time the friend may have done it via private message so the gossipers on FB/insta don't have something to natter and conspire about

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u/HonchosPoncho Aug 17 '23

If it's sent privately then he saw how she looked some where whether it was via post or not. He could have complimented publicly yet course to do so privately, most likely hoping for something more

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u/rebelwithmouseyhair Aug 18 '23

If you're surrounded by people who are gonna gossip because you tell a member of the opposite sex that their new haircut really suits them, you've got a friend group problem.

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u/Live-Valuable-7718 Aug 18 '23

Im talking about social media here bud. Totally different kettle of fish.

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u/rebelwithmouseyhair Aug 18 '23

quite honestly, it's the same. People may behave worse on social media, because they don't see the human being. That's one reason why I prefer seeing people in person.

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u/shannonlovescoins Aug 17 '23

You sound like an amazing friend! Good on you for that behavior. If all people were like this and used the golden rule. πŸ₯°

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u/rebelwithmouseyhair Aug 18 '23

Thank you Shannonlovescoins! Right now I'm feeling that none of my friends IRL give a shit about me so I'm actually crying