I'm Rubber and You're Glue...

On Saturday, I found out that someone had something pretty nasty about me. I'm not friends with the person who said it. In fact, I don't even really know him at all. And he doesn't know me. He believes that I hurt someone he cares about, and thus, the nastiness. This is not the first time I've heard about this guy making crap comments about me. But for some reason, this time, I took it really, really hard. Like tears in the eyes hard. Like catch in my throat hard. What was different about this time?
His comment was not true. It's actually just this man's opinion. An opinion based on nothing. And even if it wasn't completely baseless, why do I care what he thinks about me? Why do I care what any virtual stranger thinks about me?
Or is my reaction due to something else? Guilt? Regret over past actions? Karmic payback? A larger questioning of who I am as a person?

Oh, too much self-analyzation for a Monday afternoon. Maybe my tears and hurt feelings would go away with a much simpler solution: telling that guy where to go and how to get there.