# I don't even know how to respond to this... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 4, 2015, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799 "2015-02-04T12:39:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/21 "2015-02-04T15:59:15Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Münchausen by Internet? That’s what I was gonna say. And I don’t know about you but I’m not altogether kidding. Oh, and I think **TruCelt** is thinking of Manti Te’o and his catfishing / and or lying sack o’ shit episode. \ Did the full truth ever come out about that? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/22 "2015-02-04T16:00:34Z")
At least he wasn’t crushed. CRUSHED! I tells ye… crushed like a can of pineapples ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/23 "2015-02-04T17:19:14Z")
I would totally make a donation to the American Heart Association in his name and send her the notification. Why? Because it’s a good cause, and I like fucking with people who are fucking with me. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/24 "2015-02-04T17:46:47Z")
Tell her that you know someone who needs an organ transplant and want to get the paperwork for her boyfriend to see if he’s a match. If he is, he’ll be able to save your friend’s life. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/25 "2015-02-04T17:46:55Z")
I like QuickSilver’s idea. I would also tell her you are trying to send flowers to the funeral but can’t find any info on it and can she share the details? Just to make her come up with one more whopper. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/26 "2015-02-04T18:12:15Z")
> [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](#): > > She attempted to stop living a lie and presumably wants to put the whole mess behind her. I would recommend that’s what you do as well. You’re right. A Lot of people have created totally fictitious personas… and after a while they either get bored of leading people around by the nose or they find that they’ve painted themselves into a corner. Its sad for them… but it really does break the trust they had with the person who thought they were being honest with them. There’s pain there and the OP has a Right to that pain… because it wasn’t justified. The OP is a real person, not some cheesy cheap audience for some two-bit acting exercise. That said, and pain aside, who really has the problem? The Liar. Who really needs a real friend? The Liar. The real question is, are you making the world a better place by rubbing her nose in the fact that she made up being Gustaf Johanssen, the pig-face Swedish man who she pretended to be dating? Because the problem seems self correcting, and she seems to be growing up. Now, a more interesting question is why. No, not why was she so broken, but what has changed in her life that she can honestly come out of her shell and say, “This is me and I’m living in my own skin now.” Maybe she met someone who made her want to grow up and leave her imaginary personas from foreign countries behind? It might be interesting to stick around and find out, no? Just a thought. * * * > [@QuickSilver](#): > > and I like fucking with people who are fucking with me. Granted, there IS that too… ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/27 "2015-02-04T18:50:44Z")
Find her a real boyfriend. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/28 "2015-02-04T18:56:58Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > That’s what I was gonna say. And I don’t know about you but I’m not altogether kidding. > > Oh, and I think **TruCelt** is thinking of Manti Te’o and his catfishing / and or lying sack o’ shit episode. > > \ Did the full truth ever come out about that? Yes, that was it. Thank you! [Here’s a good Dr. Phil article.](http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/1925/) ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/29 "2015-02-04T19:10:48Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > [Here’s a good Dr. Phil article.](http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/1925/) Never thought I’d see those words put together like that, without irony, on these boards. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/30 "2015-02-04T19:10:57Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > How do we even know Cathy exists? We don’t have any facebook evidence either. So, **Grumpy Bunny** you come in here one day and just talk about your “friend” and “her” “fake boyfriend”? How do we know you didn’t make her up? What if you made up a person who made up another person? > > Gasp! > > Inception! How do we know **GrumpyBunny** exists? ---
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/31 "2015-02-04T19:47:54Z")
self-esteem … dignity … social capital … it doesn’t sound like she was imposing the fact she had a boyfried on others. Maybe she just needed that lift through a difficult time and is now through it. I don’t get the boyfriend pillow thing, either. Actually, I don’t get women. Period. I’d give her a pass though, seems a sweet person really. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/32 "2015-02-04T19:53:21Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > How do we even know Cathy exists? We don’t have any facebook evidence either. So, **Grumpy Bunny** you come in here one day and just talk about your “friend” and “her” “fake boyfriend”? How do we know you didn’t make her up? What if you made up a person who made up another person? > > Gasp! > > Inception! > [@gigi](#): > > How do we know **GrumpyBunny** exists? Myself, I have my doubts about **Sir T-Cups** being real. /Considers. Looks at **gigi** with narrowed, suspicious, eyes/ ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/33 "2015-02-04T19:53:37Z")
just goes to show that even Spanish actors can have bad hearts. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/34 "2015-02-04T19:57:26Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > I, uh, plead the Fifth. Or have a fifth. A fifth is somehow involved. > > Wait, isn’t this where I say that no one is taking me seriously, and flounce out? I see you know how to internet. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/35 "2015-02-04T20:12:29Z")
Some single people may feel such intense pressure or judging over still being single at an old age that they resort to creating fake online boyfriend or girlfriend profiles just to get people to shut up for a while. It’s unfortunate but it’s understandable. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/36 "2015-02-04T20:22:33Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I would “confess” to Cathy, in front of others, that for some time you have been enjoying a torrid affair with her “boyfriend.” While you are deeply embarrassed to have to reveal this, the good news is that he isn’t really dead, he just wanted a clean break from Cathy. > > Certain to be interesting. This. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/37 "2015-02-04T20:39:01Z")
So, she created a sock account on a message board, and apparently enjoys making up incredible and tragic stories to string people along? Tell her to quit wasting time on Facebook, because you found her Shangri-La! ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/38 "2015-02-04T21:09:08Z")
Unless Cathy has given you other reasons to not trust her, just write off her George Glass episode by giving her the benefit of the doubt as to why he came into being in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/39 "2015-02-04T21:21:27Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Pretty much this. I had a long-term friend with a fake girlfriend — to just about everyone but me. She was an invention because he was tired of folks trying to either fix him up or comment on his status. He was alone, liked being alone and saw no need of becoming a “couple”. I caught on and he eventually came clean to me but he kept it up for at least another 5 years without all the drama in the OP. I wondered if it was something like this. Maybe her mother was bugging her about finding someone-- if her mother was ill, it may have even been “Find someone before I die.” I know people whose parents have constantly harped on their need to couple up with someone to the point that they start ducking their parents calls. Then her mother died, so she didn’t need George anymore. > [@LurkerInNJ](#): > > Unless Cathy has given you other reasons to not trust her, just write off her George Glass episode by giving her the benefit of the doubt as to why he came into being in the first place. Dammit, I wanted to make the first George Glass reference. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799/40 "2015-02-04T22:39:34Z")
My aunt invented a fake boyfriend, and made up a more and more elaborate story. Then she got more delusional about other things and ended up in an instituion. So I hope the Board will excuse me for not finding this as mock-worthy as some of you would. If your friend has come to her senses and feels like this is the best way to push the reset button, I say go with it unless she starts making up other weird stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-even-know-how-to-respond-to-this/711799.md?page=3)