Thanks Open Eyes. Your post was very useful as usual, and I think you pinpointed the source of my sensitivity, which I think is a major cause of my dysfunctional social life. I am always afraid of rejection, and anticipate it even if it is actually there, as if I am protecting myself in advance. I agree with you about how some parents raise their children. Unfortunately, children pay the cost by suffering for years, while parents get away.

For the person I sent the message, I expected him at least to acknowledge my message. He could have said, for example, "this is a very involved issue, and I am afraid I don't have the answer for you" in a reasonable time frame. I would have understood something like this. But leaving my message not even seen, while he is surfing other posts and online on messenger wasn't something nice. I may be naive, but I am not stupid. He did this once before with me telling me that he didn't see my message, and responded days later.