Flabbergasted: Compliments and Cards

At the Atlanta office of Better World Books, we decided to exchange anonymous compliments to each other on index cards. What better way to raise office morale then an index card telling you that you are super. As soon as I heard of this plan, I had flashbacks of Valentines Day in elementary school. I remember creating a valentine mailbox that best represented me out of a brown paper bag and watching it get filled with valentines.

Sure the teacher made us give everyone a valentine but it still felt good when that special someone in the class gave me a valentine with Garfield making a sarcastic remark. Nothing like the cynicism of Garfield to show someone you care. In middle school, we were not required to give everyone a valentine. I was unaware of this and I gave everyone a valentine. Suddenly, my valentines were suffering from inflation. Sarah Brown approached me, valentine in hand, and said she heard I gave every girl in the class a valentine. I did give every girl in the class a valentine I told her but I drew a heart on yours.

I participated in AmeriCorps NCCC, a national service program in which teams of 12 team members complete 1700 hours of national service. We worked and lived together. Some of us even courted each other and then we ended the courtship and continued to live and work together.
In order to keep the team morale up after we worked 10 hour days building trails; our team leader decided we should sit in a circle and tell each team member something we like about them.

Unfortunately, the previous day a young lady on my team and I decided we should end our courtship. We suddenly found ourselves forced to sit in a circle and give each other a compliment. She told me that she liked the way I laughed at my jokes even if no one else thought they were funny. That was a sweet observation for her to make. I told her I was impressed at how many guys drove over 10 hours to come visit her even though they were “just friends.”