So most of the time we expect to receive negativity and condemnation from strangers, but who has experiences of positive responses, or at least reactions that affirmed your identity?
I don't normally say anything to strangers, partly out of being a little shy and partly out of not wanting to inadvertently offend or be weird, but I always smile and be polite as if there's nothing different. Although I'm sure a few times people have noticed me quickly looking up and down in admiration, it can be hard not to sometimes. When you greet someone though, and get a comfortable smile back with that look in their eyes like they know you liked what you saw; That does make me happy if I made someone feel good about themselves.
I haven't really gotten much feedback myself (except my coworkers poking fun at me for the little bit I gained), but something small the other day made me think about this. The name "SkinnyD" is simply a nickname from work (D is for Dan, not something else), it was a play on the name of another company. I used to be 130 at 5'9" with next to no bodyfat, so pretty skinny.
Anyway the other day I was walking backwards with something when a customer walks back in through the doorway behind me. A coworker, who happens to be a pretty big guy himself, jokingly says "Skinny, you almost ran over the customer!" The customer immediately says "uh, he's not that skinny..." I had to laugh, but I liked that response, something felt good about someone saying I definitely wasn't skinny. I didn't really like the nickname before, but now I enjoy the increasing irony of it, and the customer disputing it was just too funny.
I don't normally say anything to strangers, partly out of being a little shy and partly out of not wanting to inadvertently offend or be weird, but I always smile and be polite as if there's nothing different. Although I'm sure a few times people have noticed me quickly looking up and down in admiration, it can be hard not to sometimes. When you greet someone though, and get a comfortable smile back with that look in their eyes like they know you liked what you saw; That does make me happy if I made someone feel good about themselves.
I haven't really gotten much feedback myself (except my coworkers poking fun at me for the little bit I gained), but something small the other day made me think about this. The name "SkinnyD" is simply a nickname from work (D is for Dan, not something else), it was a play on the name of another company. I used to be 130 at 5'9" with next to no bodyfat, so pretty skinny.
Anyway the other day I was walking backwards with something when a customer walks back in through the doorway behind me. A coworker, who happens to be a pretty big guy himself, jokingly says "Skinny, you almost ran over the customer!" The customer immediately says "uh, he's not that skinny..." I had to laugh, but I liked that response, something felt good about someone saying I definitely wasn't skinny. I didn't really like the nickname before, but now I enjoy the increasing irony of it, and the customer disputing it was just too funny.
2 months