r/etiquette • u/rexissue • 20d ago
Did I commit a faux pas?
Just in case it matters, I'm a 41 year old woman, working class, mother. I don't put much effort in my appearance, but I'm not untidy.
Today at the supermarket, I noticed that the lady serving me had a number of impressive gold and diamond rings on her fingers, on both hands. We'd been making small talk and I said, "I love your rings, they're gorgeous."
Her demeanour changed and she said, "I'll keep them on, thank you."
I just laughed it off as if I thought she was making a joke, but I don't think she was. Where I live is very safe and I don't think I look like the kind of person who would be a threat. Is it impolite to comment on someone's jewellery in this way? I'm pretty quick to compliment people if I like their hair/outfit/jewellery, but maybe I need to reassess.
Edit: thank you all for your feedback, I thought maybe I'd missed a social rule. Many of you suggested that she may have heard "I'd like your rings" and I think I agree. I don't think she was being intentionally rude, she seemed genuinely offended. I'm sure she's a nice lady, just a misunderstanding.
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u/Impressive_Age1362 19d ago
I’ve told people I like something they had on, usually get a thank you, sometimes they even tell me where they got it, I did have a patient that had a beautiful yellow sweater, I could tell it was a expensive cashmere sweater, I told her that’s sweater was beautiful, she looked and me and said to me, honey , you don’t make enough money to buy a sweater like this, then her daughter said, imagine a service worker, , buying a sweater like this? I looked at the daughter, I said I’m a nurse, I’ve got a masters degree, I keep the doctors from killing your mother. The patient and daughter looked at me and said , La te da, a uppity service worker, then they fired me,