Don't look a gift horse in the mouth

Since Condon is off on some sandy beach for a week, and didn't leave anyone to guest-blog for him, I'll have to pick up the slack.

I've been thinking about compliments lately. And how people express themselves to others. Of course, there's a specific story about this...but we'll get to it later.

A good example for this topic is the movie As Good as it Gets. It stars Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt (among others). Jack plays a wealthy author, but he has some extreme OCDs. His life is completely regimented. He eats certain things...he goes certain places...he talks to certain people. He's pretty neurotic. Well, anyway, he falls in love with helen hunt. And near the end of the movie he's trying to win her affection. So they go out to dinner. While sitting there, Helen asks Jack to pay her a compliment. She was upset, and she needed to hear something nice. This is what they said:

Melvin Udall: I've got a really great compliment for you, and it's true.

Carol Connelly: I'm so afraid you're about to say something awful.

Melvin Udall: Don't be pessimistic, it's not your style. Anyway, here goes: I've got this, what, ailment. Now, my doctor, this shrink I used to go to all the time, says that in fifty to sixty percent of cases, a pill really helps. I HATE pills, hate them. I'm using the word "hate" about pills. Anyway, my compliment to you is the night after you came over and said that you would never... well, you were there, you know what you said. Anyway, the very next morning, I started taking the pills.

Carol Connelly: I don't quite get how that's a compliment for me.

Melvin Udall: You make me want to be a better man.

Carol Connelly: ...That's maybe the best compliment of my life.

Melvin Udall: Well maybe I overshot a little, because I was aiming at just enough to keep you from walking out


His compliment was so strange that it always stuck with me. But that was how he could express himself. So, that had happened to me a few months ago. I was visiting a friend....hm....can't use his real name....ok, I was visiting The Artist formerly known as Prince. As we drove around, talking about nothing in particular, Prince said to me, "Rob, if I ever wanted to do a drive-by (read: gun people down in the street) and needed someone to help me, then you would be the first person I'd call."

Mind you, Prince is not a violent person. He's never committed a crime or even shot a gun. But it sorta touched me, that if he was forced into a situation where he had to shoot some people in the street then he would call me to help. He would trust that I would go through with it, and not just wimp out at the last minute.

It's like that saying....who said it?....oh right, Jesus....he said "A good friend will be there to bail you out of jail....but a great friend will be sitting there next to you."

He was telling me that he thought I was a great friend. And it felt good.

So think about that the next time someone pays you a really off-the-wall compliment. It may just be the only way they know how to express themselves.