Men don’t compliment each other enough. In fact, when men do compliment each other on something as little as “cool shirt bro,” they are bound forever. This is how men make friends.

 

Unfortunately, men can also be stupid and unaware of their feelings. While the male-on-male compliment is rare enough, women complimenting men is even rarer and it causes something to go off in their heads. The thought?

 

“I think she likes me.”

 

This is wrong. The answer is no. You only just met her. She probably even has a boyfriend. She just really thought your hair looked nice today. That’s it. 

 

So let’s examine a series of cases where a man may be complimented.

 

In class:

You’ve been sitting next to her all semester. It’s your favorite class because you get to see her and be next to her. You think she likes you, however the first day of class where you ended up sitting together and decided to make that your unofficial official seat for the semester, she said she liked your shoes. 

 

Does she like you? No.

 

Maybe you haven’t been told anything nice for six months prior by anyone. The instant relief you felt when you heard something nice made you think that she does. This is wrong. She thinks of you as that one guy in her marketing class that she gets notes from sometimes. That’s it. You don’t even have her number, Snapchat or know her Instagram handle.

 

The barista:

You see her everyday as you get your coffee to prepare for your day. You like this little small shop that doesn’t get traffic like some of the bigger stores in the area. At this point she knows your name and usual order then always gives you it with a smile on her face. You tip her pretty generously. 

 

Today is different. You go to get your usual order and she gives you a free muffin. Her kind gesture makes you feel happy and you think, “I think she likes me. I should ask her out.”

 

Does she like you? No.

 

It’s her job to be nice to customers. Given that it’s a small shop that struggles to compete with the chain stores that are more conveniently placed, being nice to customers is key. She doesn’t get paid enough as is, so she makes a couple of nice gestures to everyone in hopes of getting better tips. Which it does. She knows the formula to get her paid better so she works it. What you don’t see is her face going neutral as soon as she isn’t in sight of customers or how she hates her job but can’t afford to find a new one.

 

Your best friend’s mom:

You’ve known her most of your life. You’ve been to his house an uncountable amount of times. It’s practically your second home and second family. Vice versa for your friend. Sleepovers, birthdays, football. He’s your best friend. 

 

His mom said you were looking handsome when going to prom.

 

You’re now thinking “has she been hitting on me this whole time?” You start to fantasize about her and decide that a romantic tryst with your best friend’s mom is worth destroying a long-lived friendship.

 

Does she like you? No. 

 

You’ve been on the hub too much. She’s happily married and twice your age. 

 

Your neighbor:

On-campus or off-campus, it doesn’t matter. You leave your place the same time she does hers. You see her rush off to wherever she’s headed while you do the same. You don’t know where she’s going, but your imagination races as she commands all of your thoughts even through your first class, statistics. 

 

You smile at each other when passing by and she says “hey” but you think she’s saying “heyyy.” Today she held the door open for you on the way out because she was a little bit quicker than you this time. Something in your brain clicks and you think of all the possibilities, coming to the ultimate conclusion: “I think she likes me.”

 

Does she like you? No.

 

What you think has been charming back and forth has only been brief moments as you rush off into your own lives. The whole time you’ve been a bumbling idiot and the smile she gave was a concerned awkward one, not a happy to see you one.

 

Your girlfriend:

You’ve been dating for almost a year now. You met at a bar and hit it off right away. You really seemed to click and you left your friends because you accomplished the goal of the night.

 

Except for she’s not just some woman. She’s your girlfriend now and you really like her. You feel like she gets you in a way no one else has before. When you’re with her, you feel like the world is still and in what feels like a brief moment of love, hours have passed as you lovingly gaze at her. 

 

Does she like you? No.

 

Girl You’ve Been Texting:

You got her number but you don’t remember how. Maybe from that one party? It doesn’t matter. You and her text back and forth all the time. She responds to your texts quickly and you respond to hers just as fast. Sometimes she’ll type something adorable that makes you feel warm inside. 

 

It’s 3 a.m., you aren’t all the way cognizant and neither is she. The messages at this point are nonsense but every moment you spend talking with her, the more you feel like there’s a deep connection. After your long correspondence with each other, you finally come to the thought, “she likes me.”

 

Does she like you? No. 

 

She likes talking to you because you keep her entertained, she hasn’t physically spent any time with you and she suffers from insomnia so she was going to be up that late anyway. Because she suffers from insomnia, the line between dream and reality is constantly blurred. She may not even know if you are a real person.