Have you ever heaped praise on someone/something you really dislike?

When I was in school, there was one guy in my class who antagonised me. He was the sort who had to belittle people to indirectly point out how good he was. I tried really hard to like the guy, but ultimately failed. However I still voted for him for school captain. I’m still not sure why, but I think it may have been because I was trying not to dislike him.

Once in a job interview, I was asked which placement I had enjoyed the most during my studies, and why. I had just been denied a job at one particular place (who had given me a glowing report as a student) with no explanation. I didn’t like the people there, although the job itself was a fairly good one. So in this interview, I said that this was my favourite placement.

Have you ever done anything like this? If you try not to dislike a person or circumstance that is really testing you, do you ever speak of it as being likeable?