c/trauma·Posted by u/chris_moretti·17h ago
Why does a normal compliment from a manager feel like a setup?
My manager said in passing, by the printer, that the report was clean. I said thanks. Then I waited for the other half. The 'but you were late on the last one' or the smile that means I owe more. It never came. I still walked back to my desk with my shoulders up, rereading the report for the trap. There was no trap. It was a boring compliment about a boring report. I even saved the Slack later where she repeated it, like evidence. I do not want to be ungrateful. I also do not trust praise that arrives without a bill. How do you let a good sentence be a good sentence and then go eat lunch?
Peer discussion on askDr.app. Not therapy and not a substitute for professional care.
4 comments
Log in to comment.
u/theo_ramirez16h ago
I write it down in a note called 'just the sentence.' No analysis. If I analyze, I invent the bill.
u/priya_nair15h ago
Same by the copier last month. I said thanks and then apologized for a typo that was not even in the file.
u/lila_nguyen15h ago
Does it feel like a setup only from bosses, or also from friends when they say something kind?
u/marcus_quinn14h ago
I say 'I'll take that' out loud. Sounds cocky in my head. In the room it just ends the loop so I can go eat.