I've been there. Fortunately each time it was online, so the damage was minimized.
Actually that's strange. Why has it always been online? Maybe there really are red flags about me. Red flags that only show up in person, not things that people see online. Red flags that make even a desperate woman think, actually I'll see if I can do better than this.
I've been contemplating this for the past few days.
Having known you for a long time (over a decade now that I've been a thorn in your side!
) and also having spent time around you in real-life groups, I personally don't think it's as much about you having red flags in person.
Rather, I think it's more about the capacity for people to become attached to a deeper side of someone that might only (or more evidently) surface online.
The first several years I was here on CC, I was wavering in and out of some of very deep bouts of depression. To avoid any online censorship no-no's in the way it's worded, I'll just say that I had times when I have thought of punching my own ticket to heaven. I didn't explicitly say that in my posts, but something obviously must have shown through.
I wish I had my old private messages from that time (around 2013-2014,) but I think they got wiped in one of the multiple system updates over the years. All I can remember is that you sent me a message, and I can't remember exactly what you said, but I remember you summed it all up by saying, "I've been reading a lot of your posts, and I can tell you're having a hard time. I was just wondering, is there anything I can do to help?"
You and I had known each other a bit from bantering in the forums. But you had the depth, and took the time, to ask what was going on beneath even my shiniest posts. I can't think of many people who have done that in my entire life. I think that's something about you that translates specifically online, so when you told our meetup group about women on the site who had become attached to you, I could certainly understand why. Not many people bother to notice or peak behind someone's personal curtain of suffering, let alone ask if they can help. And many people (women especially) are dying for someone to care.
I don't think that comes across as much about you in person but I could be wrong. From what I've seen in person is that you like to make people feel better by chauffeuring, cooking mass amounts of food (even if it means accidentally swiping someone's designated personal loaf of low-carb bread,) and most of all, making people laugh.
You live to serve people, and in real life, most of that comes through in trying to create a fun, helpful, and light-hearted atmosphere (translation -- you're a non-stop joke machine.)
It's an awesome thing for sure, but I'm thinking not many women in real life would ever pick up just how deep-thinking you really are behind the all the laughs.
Henceforth, it seems logical that more women craving that kind of response would notice (and cling to) this aspect of your personality online.