I never grew past the phase of childhood where kids will be like “oh my God cool shirt we should be friends!”

Sounds like you and I are of a kind.

And the smiles are so amazing. I don’t know why more people don’t do it, it feels so good seeing people get happy, when all I did was say the thing I was thinking already.

Sounds like you and I are of a kind.

Though this one I think I get. In modern society I think people are trained not to engage with strangers. It took me a few positive responses before I felt comfortable volunteering my thoughts to random people in passing. Also, I myself didn’t think to start doing it until I read about how much a single compliment could mean to someone; if I had never read that post, I don’t know if it would have independently occurred to me to start reaching out. I agree, though, it’s worth doing.

“I love your ne-- I love your whole freaking vibe!”

I once said something very similar to a contractor who came to my house to work on my water system. I think I said “I like your style, it’s pretty awesome” - he had some cool tattoos and a fashion sense I would emulate if I were in any way fit. It made him smile, but I don’t think it meant as much to him as what you described above.

edit: Maybe because there were no puppies.