Man wonders how to gently decline woman’s request to get together after years of her thinking they share a friendship that is actually non-existing: I’m also turned off by the way she declared in her email that ‘we should do this and do that together’ – FAIL Blog

In some cases, people think they are your friends, and the relationship is truly nonexistent. Other times, we unconsciously enabled that definition by staying in conversations for too long, or by accepting plans we didn’t want to. I think, in this case, the relationship might really be imaginary.

There is no perfect way to reject somebody, but it’s definitely better done than perfect. It would be best for everyone involved. The Redditor could finally enjoy his life without being prompted by her, and the woman could stop pursuing something that clearly isn’t for her. Of course, she could benefit from acquiring social skills to read situations better, but she doesn’t have them today, period. Somebody has to step in and do the ‘dirty work’. I can’t help but fantasize about the relief he will feel when he finally gets this out of his chest!