Everyone left Manhattan for Brooklyn.

Can't we all just move to East Egg and get along? Doubtful. We'd overdose on cheap cocaine or sleeping pills or compliments. The latter being the most dangerous of the three.

I can't take compliments and I can't give them. When someone compliments me, I smile awkwardly and freeze up, forgetting to return the favour. I usually forget to say thank-you. Or I will try to think quickly and say something nice about them.

But it always comes out wrong. Everything I end up saying is a double edged sword. It sounds like a compliment, but the connotation is all wrong. Or I say the first thing that comes to my head, which is usually rude, but true.

At least I say it with a smile. Usually.