Retraction

Today at the park, a woman walked by and complimented my dog. "She has such pretty markings!" I said, "Thank you," and kept walking. Then I stopped under the trees and berated myself. Why did I say thank you, like she was giving me a compliment? Django's marking aren't any of my doing. Am I thanking her for complimenting my taste in dogs? Am I thanking her, like, by proxy for Django, implying that Django would thank her if only she spoke English? Am I thanking her for a comment that wasn't meant as a compliment, but just an observation? Any way you look at it, I'm an idiot. The only worse thing I could do is run after the lady, now halfway across the park, "Um, excuse me! Excuse me!"
"Oh! Hello again." The lady stops.
"Uh, I just wanted to say, what I said back there, I'd like to take it back."
"What you said?"
"You know, saying thank you when you said, about her markings."
The woman is stunned. She doesn't know whether to be insulted or scared. She leashes up her chubby brown Lab. I babble on. "I mean, I think they're pretty markings, too."
"Yes," she says, "They certainly are pretty markings. You are lucky to have such a pretty dog. And you must have great taste, to have picked her out. And you can tell her for me, I'll bet she's a very, very lucky little dog herself. There, are you satisfied? Come on, Brownie." And off they go. Or would. If I had said anything other than thank you.
Which of course I didn't.