When You Don't Know What Else To Say, So You Just Say "Thanks"

Their words might sound like compliments or politeness---yet they make you pause, and puzzle your brows as you think:

"WHAT did they mean by that?!"

Have you ever experienced those moments?

Years ago, an old boyfriend sweetly whispered to me, "I really like you. You're so ordinary."

Huh?


"Ordinary?!" I thought. "What is that supposed to mean? How about amazing? Or one-of-a-kind? Or don't you mean EXTRAordinary?!"

Looking back, I think I know what the poor guy might have been trying to say. But at that time, I felt confused by his choice of a word whose synonyms (when I looked in the thesaurus later) included:

'humdrum,' 
'everday,' 
'run-of-the-mill.'

So, not knowing how to respond, I mumbled back, "Um---thank you..."

My new hairdresser ran the comb through my hair right before she began trimming it. "Is this curl in your hair natural?" she exuded, as she lightly tousled the soft locks with her fingers, then gushed. "I really like it! It's different!"

"Different?" I thought, "What does she mean 'different'? I thought it was just normal hair!" I mean, I might call the top of my right ear "different" because it doesn't curve down like a normal ear. I might call the left side of my lip "different" because it curves higher than the right side when I smile. And plenty of people have described the Cherokee shape of my eyes as "different." But what did she mean "different"? Just what's so different-looking about my HEAD?!"

And I murmured, "Umm---thanks."

An 87-year-old woman I take care of handed me a stack of novels she had finished reading. "Here. You can have these," she said as she handed them to me. Then, with a pause and looking me right in the eye, she added, "You'll like them. They have a little sex in them."

"Oh! Umm----Okay. Well, um. Alright. Uh-----Thanks."

Sometimes, what else can you say?