Today at lunch, I parked my car and was walking to the restaurant and a women heading the other way called to me, “I like your car!” I turned and said “thank you” and kept going. Now, after a short reflection, there’s a lot I have to say about this.
The first reaction I suppose people would have is, “She was totally into you!” or in a more modern phraseology, “She wants the D!” Or even at a more simple level, my car was an icebreaker. Let me share a story. This is from my last dating experience (and I expect it to be my last since I have an awesome GF and I’m not going through that hell again in these modern times). The dating site I was using had a feature that would anonymously poll users to find the best picture from your collection that you could use as your profile picture. Of the ones I had uploaded, the highest-rated photo was of my car. Isn’t that a crushing bit of knowledge to have? The best picture of me is not a picture of me.
So excuse me if I’m a little sensitive on this particular matter. There’s a huge difference between saying “Nice car!” and “Cute baby!” The latter is something that you made. It’s unique. The former is something you bought. Anyone can buy it. There’s also a difference between a pedestrian person saying “nice car!” and an enthusiast saying “nice rims” or “nice mods”. The enthusiast’s knowledge and expertise lend credibility to his compliment and makes the compliment more directed at you.
Finally, there’s a huge difference between “I like your car” and “I like your taste in cars.” Is the difference that obvious? If I hear the first, I don’t even give it a second thought. If I heard the second, it would be a conversation-starter. So, here’s a quick tip for you single and searching people out there. If you see someone you are interested in, don’t compliment the things they have, compliment them on their choice of things they have. After all, you want to be one of the things they choose, right?
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