I was having a civil and boring discussion with someone on a (non-anonymous) forum once about a highly specific technical thing, and then some random person decides to write something along the lines of “I have nothing to add to this conversation, but I just want to point out that the guy you’re talking to is actually an employee of <well known company> :)”

I don’t know if that guy felt any cringe after posting that, but I sure as hell felt it for him. Neither of us really knew how to respond to that, and it kind of just killed the discussion to avoid that awkwardness.

Sometimes I still think about that guy. Is he still vicariously Pretty Woman’ing people? Did he accomplish some of his life goals? I hope so.