I find myself in a socially awkward situation when people say to me, "You've lost weight." I believe that they expect me to say, "Thank you." Only, is that a compliment? It's an observation, a statement of fact. If someone said, "You got a new tattoo," or, "You cut your hair," it would be unclear whether or not she approved of the change in my appearance. I would say, "Yes I did," and would not say, "Thanks," unless she expressed a positive opinion.
So I follow my belief in language, rather than the universal assumption that losing weight is an inherently good thing. I nod and say, as neutrally as I am able, "I have lost some weight." If she then says, "You look good," I smile and say, "Thank you."
Am I being petty?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I am glad you posted on elastic waist not only because I would love to take your clothing off your hands (size 18) and it would help me oh so much right now, but because it introduced me to your blog! If you havent already found someone else in need, I would really appreciate your size 18 clothing. My email is brooke@vandals.uidaho.edu and my blog is paranoidinreverse.blogspot.com
Thank you so much
And I dont think you are being petty
I don't know if this is what you meant over at Elastic Waist when you said people could message you, but I am dim and could not find another way! In any case, if you've still got size 18 clothes, I'd love it if you could pass them on to me -- I'm finding it really difficult to locate nice stuff in my size. You can email me at pocketfulofsky at gmail dot com.
Nice blog, by the way; kudos on the weight loss!
I'll get in touch with you both tomorrow and let you know what I've got!
Post a Comment