Noodling Yourself a Catfish

Although others will scoff, I do take great pride in being fair. As I stated to a previous commenter, “there’s no guarantee that my words will resonate … and bring the satisfaction you seek.”

Anne Slanders is an Equal Opportunity Opinionator. I can be a powerfully empathetic ally or an equally rabid and venomous serpent, if the occasion warrants. No one is afforded favoritism.

With the ground rules firmly established, this won’t be an angler’s Master Class in landing a bottom-feeding, mud monster from a murky riverbed. Frankly speaking, the mere idea of coaxing a slimy river fish into swallowing my arm and hoisting it onto a boat, disgusts me. No thank you!

To be fair, the veracity of the claims seems improbable, but far too many have posted similar comments. One commenter implored me to, “blog how a woman can catfish a so-called smart man, for years and he doesn’t know.” Fair enough.

So, today’s topic concerns something that could have been yanked straight from Nev Schulman’s vault from the Catfish™️ archives. This involves a “smart” man who was unceremoniously catfished by a woman, that some have claimed lasted for more than 10+ years.

Let’s take a moment of contemplation and allow that to soak in. 10+ years! I admit, I find myself intrigued, profusely perplexed and undeniably curious to understand more.

Another reason for my hesitancy is that notoriously, and contrary to popular belief, women are more likely to be victims of catfishing. It goes without question that in this day and age of online anonymity, one would perceive a standard modus operandi of caution, especially when dealing with matters of personal emotion.

One would have to surmise that if the criticisms are true, any prevailing cynicism would be justified. Anne Slanders (that would be me) doesn’t give a pass to those that are haphazardly lethargic with their emotions.

What Is Catfishing?
- A catfish will intentionally spin stories that have no link to the truth.
- Catfish relationships typically remain online, with one person believing it’s legitimate, while the other knows it’s not.
- The goal of catfishing is different from typical online dating deception. It involves deception from the start, with no intention of moving the relationship offline.

While not all dating deception is nefarious, some catfishing schemes are designed to scam victims out of money or valuable personal information for personal gain.

Until the assertions are deemed factually true, the only fair thing is to request answers to my follow-up questions. Here are just a few of them.

Men are typically visual creatures by nature. Why did this relationship prevail for so long without some form of validation? (ie: Skype, FaceTime, etc.)
Did she catfish money from you? If so, how much?
What level of deception was this? Was she deceptive in her age, or physical appearance, or location, or her economic status, or marital status?
Over the course of 10+ years, there had to be some inconsistency in her stories. How was that handled? Did anyone caution you? What were other people saying?

Now, before you vultures begin circling, I’ll allow the victim time to share their answers to me directly before rendering an opinionated verdict. At the moment, I’m still reeling at the notion it lasted 10 years (pun intended).