vanity

I collect compliments - I hoard them, like little translucent pearls; I put them away in great glass jars to be looked at and remembered when there is nothing else to be happy about.
I consider odd things compliments - an aunt telling me i have a pretty laugh, a girl friend telling me i have naïve eyes, a boy telling me I have a pretty smile. I like best the compliments that come unasked and unexpected, the ones that surprise me into tears, the ones that come at the end of a long day and turn my mood around. I like best the compliments that are given without thought, without pretense, without design. I like best the compliments not meant as compliments, "I'd forgotten how much fun it was talking to you", compliments sent as little drunken messages, "So glad I met you", compliments sent as angry tirades, "What have you got to be unhappy about?"
I like best compliments that mean somebody knows, somebody sees, somebody likes me, even just a little.

I am a sucker for compliments. Can you tell?