free compliments

every wednesday around noon this guy situates himself in the middle of campus. outside of the chem building to be exact. he holds a large sign that reads "free compliments" and boy does he practice what he preaches. he begins to shout various pleasantries to fellow students walking to and from class. some examples are: "hey, nice haircut", "you look great today!", "i love that shirt", "cool umbrella".
i walk past him at the same time every week...i've been complimented on my coat, purse, and yesterday he liked my rather plain grey headband. i mean he could have at least complimented my navajo-style braids, but no he chose my headband.

as time goes on he gains followers. i'm not sure if it's just random guys who join him or a set group of friends who have put this activity on their weekly schedules. i'm also not sure exactly how long he stays, but i do know he starts around noon, and once, leah and i ran past around 3 and he was just packing up.

so this definitely causes one to ask themselves, what prompts this young man to spend a few hours of every wednesday afternoon to do this? maybe it's for some club or something? maybe it's a bet, a dare? maybe he wants the attention? he HAS been in the exponent for this more than once. but maybe, just maybe, he wants to give people something to smile about even on their long walk to class in the rain.

i have mixed feelings about these compliments. on one hand, it is somewhat amusing and it always makes me smile. on the other hand, it's extremely generic. there's no way he means almost anything he says. he shouts a compliment every five seconds...sees a person, picks out something about them, and says something nice. not to mention when 25 people are passing him at the same time and he yells "i like your haircut", you can never be sure which exact head of hair he's referring to.

nonetheless, it makes campus a little more exciting and steals the thunder from the ever-present mormon guys who camp nearby.