I am vexed

Sometimes the tone in which I use might be deemed less then pleasant. I found this out the other day, when apparently I hurt a security guard’s feelings. This young turk had made it a habit of everyday stopping me to ask for my badge. Most days my hands are full as I am carrying my lunch and assorted art supplies and his constant stopping me is getting on my last nerve. What had really irritated me is that at the basement entrance he spent much of his time standing in the halls flirting with any woman that had a pulse, being stopped by such incompetence is truly grating.
So last week I was walking with a coworker in to the basement entrance and sure enough he is not at his post but in the hallway laughing it up with some woman, I am halfway down the stairs and I hear this twit running after me demanding that I show my badge. I think I said something smart assed possibly, I am halfway down the stairs and you are now just asking for my badge. He grumbled I’m just doing my job, which in retrospect is inane because he left his post to chase down one person leaving his post unattended and he was hardly doing his job in the first place but I digress. I think I then added that he seems to make a point of stopping me, and went on my way in a much fouler mood.
Later in the week he tries to stop me, and let’s me know that I really hurt his feelings. I can’t help but think grow a bloody pair you fool. I looked at him and said that’s great but I don’t really care and went into the cafeteria to play my game boy. The man is a security guard, we aren’t friends, and I don’t have any desire to know him out side of the context of work. I was waiting for a friend to pick me up outside a few weeks ago for lunch and this very same security guard comes up and starts making small talk. He was supposed to be walking around the building, but felt a better use of his time was for him to express what turned him on. I had no desire to hear him tell me that he loved to see woman in trench coats, and loved undergarments. That is a conversation that is awkward even with someone you know. In retrospect perhaps I could have used a more pleasant voice but being annoyed at seven in the morning isn’t going to make me less angry.