In honor of the Christmas spirit, I'm trying to hand out compliments as gifts. They're inexpensive, yet priceless, and potentially socially rewarding. I say potentially because my compliments are on crutches, they don’t have the spare hands to bring social rewards to Emily.
For example: last week I was sitting in my cafeteria, drinking tea and studying Spanish, when I spied a classmate walking my way. In his hand he had a wonderful mug. Nice color, tasteful detail on the handle. So I said, "Hello! I like your mug!"
He held it up with pride, "Thanks. Only 50 cents!"
"Well that's great!" I held my mug up, sloshing tea, " My mom made mine for me!"
"Oh..." He held his mug (a great 50 cent deal, but obviously lacking love) with less pride.
And he left, with a crippled compliment feebly clutching at his heels before curling up to die.
I did not anticipate that turn of events. I bet if I let my mind catch up with my words, this wouldn’t happen to me. So, that was the end of that.
But, I have gotten better since. So far I have successfully praised three shoulder bags, a personality and a pair of shoes. I also told the plumber who unplugged our shower that he was the "unsung hero of our campus."
I wish I could retract that commendation though; those poetic words were wasted. After the plumber left, the problem was far from fixed. In fact, one shower later, mud and gunky water was bubbling out of the pipes. Currently, a slough of stagnant water is ripening in our shower. My roommate and I tried ‘cleaning’ by spraying a "natural and environmentally friendly" disinfectant into the pool. We didn't catch that the scent is "thyme and lemongrass.” And the lesson is: if you’re looking for a scent to accent mold, choose Thyme. Until the shower really gets fixed, I plan on tossing some baby amphibians into the sludge and tell the guests we’re conducting a science experiment.
Speaking of compliments, they have hit the net in the form of Like A Little. My school has just caught on (took ‘em a couple months). It’s an anonymous flirting site for college campuses. I’ve been checking up on my college’s posts. The first couple days were fascinating. The next, perturbing. Now I’m concerned. To clarify: I’m concerned about the sincere posts. In the spirit of fun and games, it’s cute. As a serious dating tool though...
It’s the anonymity that bothers me. It’s all so sneaky– cowardly. Brother, if you got your eye on that lady– grow a pair and talk to her. If you bite the dust, take it like a man. Personally, I could never use the site. No cutting corners with that anonymous stuff. If a fellow catches my attention, I prefer to look them in the eye and give them fair warning. They usually appreciate the 10 second head start. It baffles me that I am single.
Granted, being anonymous would make my life a lot easier. I could dodge ownership of all those nice words gone awry. And I could get things off my chest like: HI! I haven't showered since THURSDAY! Love, Anon. Life would be! ... really boring. Names and faces and all these blunders keep my days feisty.
So, back to work. It's the last week of classes, which means crunch time (which means I'm finding everything else to do besides homework. I crocheted a hat. I’m halfway through Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. And I wrote this blog. And I’m 0 words closer to finishing my 1010 word essay, due tomorrow!).
The bright side is that I do all my studying at the library. I had forgotten that I love going to the library! There was hope for my academic life when I remembered that my favorite smell is old books. Then I remembered a scent I like even more– motor oil. Academics– I’m not good at this game.
On that note, as finals approaches, I'd just like to remind my momma that grades are not an indication of success. In fact, "Creative people tend to do worse on grades at each level of schooling, yet their success measures can be very high in their fields." According to Paul Kimelman (a wise man). This is great news!
God bless,
Emily
