Alright, I'll bite. I got a favor from the mafia once. I had bought a motorcycle and the seller gave me an unsigned title, un-notarized. There was a Curio shop on our street - these ancient men ran it, but never sold a Curio, they did sell cigarettes and ran card games in the back of the shop. I told one what happened and he says "ah, don't worry baby, Sam is a notary! SAM! This young lady needs something notarized. " So they signed the guys name and notarized it.
"What do I owe you?" "Nothing, honey, we do this as a favor for you, yes?"
I'm sure they are long dead now, and the curio shop some hipster bar or something . In their heyday they ran numbers and took protection money but had settled down, but it was funny, their job was sort of - if they could do it for you, and you could pay for it in some way, they would. So of course Sam was their crooked notary. And technically I owe the Mafia a small favor still.
Hmm. I think my favorite compliment may have been indirect, I overheard someone at my work telling someone else that I was so smart & funny, I don't even know what the context was but a compliment behind my back, not to me, seemed so authentic.