The two compliments that stick out most in my head: once when I was 23, a guy in a bar walked up to me, told me I was adorable and then walked away! He didn’t linger and make it weird.
The other is when people compliment my energy. Love that.
And I still maintain that the difference between creepy and romantic is whether we are interested in the person complimenting us. If we are not at all, I can get creepy. If we are, it’s romantic. Kind of obscure and objective and not helpful for people as a takeaway.
Thanks for writing this. I think the people who feel like they can compliment others probably delve into creep land too often.