I don't know the details of your experience, but one thing I'll say is that we tend to take less crap from other people when we've got alternatives. One should

I don't know the details of your experience, but one thing I'll say is that we tend to take less crap from other people when we've got alternatives. One should never tolerate disrespect from anyone whatsoever, but it's a hell of a lot easier when you've got other friends who treat you well, or at least you know that you can meet such people as opposed to having (extreme analogy here) some "forever alone" scarcity-like mindset.