Spot on Canoer ! But reactions vary. 1. One evening a week a group of friends and I gather at my ex-servicemen's club for dinner and a few coldies. Recently one of blokes ( a good friend of mine, age 45 ) bought his mother along. I took the opportunity to tell her, and the others, what a wonderful, kind & decent man I considered her son to be. ( recent events had proven this to be so ). Well my friend started to cry and was embarassed. What does this say ? Men have difficulty in taking on board "personal" type compliments in public ? I don't know, but I was certainly being honest and the result was that my friend was uncomfortable. 2. Women put in quite a bit of effort, and some dollars, on their personal appearance. And, I would guess, it's nice to be noticed. ( I,m sure the gals will put me right if I,m guessing wrong but my dear Mum,s adage was "it's better to be looked over than overlooked" ). Well, I do notice and I say so. It might be a compliment over a new hair colour /style, new shoes or whatever. Once again, I'm being honest but some of the return looks can be interpreted as questioning my motives.

JG / FME