That line about the coffee going cold while you refresh notifications really got me, because I've been there and it's such a lonely feeling. I got dragged hard a couple years ago for saying a local mechanic deserved a second chance after some dumb thing he posted years back. Lost a friend over it, and the guy never even said thanks, just went quiet like yours did. What helped me was logging off for a few days and remembering that the people piling on don't actually know me. A few mutuals came back around once the mob moved on to the next thing, and the ones who didn't were never really in my corner anyway. You tried to show a little grace, and that says way more about you than 200 angry replies ever will.

Hit 23 and realized my manager's "quick question" was just a warmup for the real meeting.