General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWas this a compliment?
In 11th or 12th grade in high school Political Science class debate, I was assigned to argue that Andrew Jackson was a truly great president, and my opponent was assigned to argue he was a truly awful president.
I reached deep into the bag of spin and convincingly fought back against all the very reasonable, sensible arguments why Andrew Jackson was a lousy president. My opponent lost her cool and her eyes were stinking red and angry while I calmly countered with all the pro-Andrew Jackson spin I could think of.
The teacher decided that I won the debate. As I went back to my desk he said to me, "Good job. Guess you're not an airhead".
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)rustydog
(9,186 posts)Cerridwen
(13,260 posts)demosincebirth
(12,543 posts)Cerridwen
(13,260 posts)'backhanded compliment.'
I'll leave it at that.
Rex
(65,616 posts)Lemme guess, the teacher was a cynical knowitall?
And pretty liberal. He was in his 50s and my friends and I suspected he smoked a lot of weed (who knows). I thought he was a respectable teacher up until that point but after that I thought he was kind of an asshole.
Rex
(65,616 posts)They are so smart that the rest of the human race is inferior to them and they let the rest of us know it...
Yeah had those type, I cannot stand it when they think a snide remark is somehow witty.
I think you nailed it...the guy is an asshole.
Crankie Avalon
(5,261 posts)Quantess
(27,630 posts)Maybe because I was quiet and cute?
Crankie Avalon
(5,261 posts)Was he condescending to all of you?
Quantess
(27,630 posts)It's possible he hated me for successfully arguing that Andrew Jackson was a great president....? Or that he just assumed all cute high school girls are airheads.
Crankie Avalon
(5,261 posts)Maybe it was the cute girl thing, or maybe he was just making a bad joke.
Warpy
(111,339 posts)tell me he was awarding my "A" with extreme reluctance because he knew anybody with a vagina was incapable of logical thinking, although he didn't put it quite that way.
I didn't tell him what a breeze I found that course, Lewis Carroll and all.
sad sally
(2,627 posts)In 1836 Jackson refused to renew the Bank of United States charter. Under his watch the US national debt went to zero for the first and last time in our nations history.
Quantess
(27,630 posts)Andrew Jackson maybe wasn't the worst ever. Defending GW Bush would have been a little more challenging, LOL.
saras
(6,670 posts)On the other hand, if you feel ashamed that you could betray your own beliefs and emotions with your actions that easily, it might not be a compliment at all.
You exhibited a skill. You did it well.
Quantess
(27,630 posts)It only became clear to me later in life. All I knew was that it would be a bit of a challenge to defend this guy that I had just learned about.
Our textbook gave a "fair and balanced" account with just as many pros as cons, I remember. At the time, I didn't feel dishonest at all for pulling talking points right out of the textbook. It was just an assignment to me.
But none of that has anything to do with being an airhead or not. I guess I was supposed to be flattered to not be judged a silly mindless twit.
LadyHawkAZ
(6,199 posts)FarLeftFist
(6,161 posts)zbdent
(35,392 posts)why not ask? And point out what type of "success" you've had ...
You may be surprised ...
The Doctor.
(17,266 posts)'appeared' to be an airhead otherwise.
Given only the information, it would seem his opinion of you was generally unkind.
More information might reveal a different process though.
Now, if he had said, "Wow, that was impressive for a blonde." Then I would say he's definitely a coiffist