Summer time memory

I always ttry to be honest when I review someones work, which isn;t always easy. In fact, it’s rarely easy, because I have found that most people do not want an HONEST review, they want PRAISE, and that is understandable, to a degree; because as much as they say, “tell me the truth, what do you REALLY think. So, I do, and that is fine, if they are good. If they are just okay, I might say, “You show promise, but you might want to take some writing classes to help you tighten up your technique.” So they don’t see the compliment; they only see that I did not tell them they are a marvelous writer.” Nothing less will appease them. So what can one do? I suppose I could lie, but that only gives untalented people false hope. If I say, I think you have talent,” that’s not much of a compliment, but by the time they get home and talk to their friends, my comment has suddenly become, “My goodness, this is wonderful! You should send it off to “The New Yorker!” and the poor thing spends the next thity years of her life scribbling crap that nobody likes, and my comment has caused someone to waste her life in a hopeless pursuit. So what should I say to you? Oh, okay.
“I’ve looked at three of your pieces, chosen at random. They are all pictures, with a single statement, in most cases. “But,you show some promise; perhaps you should take some writing classes.”