Everybody likes to receive a compliment. Most of us don’t get them enough. He can truly make your day when a stranger points out something about you. That’s wonderful. It can really help with self-esteem. But compliments can also have the opposite effect. The wrong compliment at the wrong time from the wrong person can take away your sense of safety. There are general commonsense rules about what compliments to give, and when. It’s usually a good idea, when you’re complimenting a stranger, to play it pretty safe. You never know what they’re going through, what they’re insecure about, or how it might come across despite your best efforts to seem normal. 

When you’re complimenting a friend, you can let it fly. You can tell them all the wonderful things about them without much thought. But with people whom you don’t know, especially in a public setting, you have to be careful. You would hate for somebody to point out something about yourself that you don’t want attention drawn to. It might make you even more insecure.