When I was an 18 year old in community college. In one of my classes there, there was an older adult in one of my classes who was very social, and after I had done a presentation in class, he told me I had a good speaking voice. After I sat down, he asked me if tea really helped me stay focused on things (because that was one of the things I talked about in my presentation), because a lot of the guys who lived where he lived said the same. Instead of answering him, I kinda just zoned off and didn’t say anything.
The next time I was in that class, he asked everyone around how they were doing, and they all answered him in one way or another. Then when he asked me how I was doing, there was a deep sadness in his voice, which indicated that he was genuinely hurt by my behavior from our last interaction. I told him I was doing good, and he didn’t say anything more to me after that.
One day, though, things got really, REALLY bad. It was the end of the semester, and I had to go to the college to submit an assignment in the mailbox of one of my professor’s. I saw the guy walking outside in front of the college library. I went over to talk to him, but when I did so, it must have seemed to him that I was just zoning off from him again, because he then stepped away from me, closed his eyes, and I saw a look of incredibly deep rage come over his face. It seemed as though it was taking him every ounce of self control in him to not tear me to pieces right then. He then asked me if I was doing good, with a voice filled with all the rage he was struggling to keep under control, and then I told him yes and just walked away…
If he’s that furious about a rejected conversation from an acquaintance then he’s the asshole, otherwise you don’t sound as much like an asshole as someone who needs to work on their social skills
YTA
you don’t mention how long ago this took place. I certainly hope you’ve matured and are no longer self centered prig.
INFO: is the only thing that happened the fact that you haven’t been interested in talking to this guy or have you done anything to offend him in other ways? It seems a little weird that he would only be angry with you for not socialising with him, so some context would be nice there.
NTA. Yes, your social skills can be better, but no one’s entitled to be your friend and you aren’t obligated to entertain every social occasion. On the other hand, how he apparently overreacts to what seems like insignificant social interactions, though, is odd at best and I dare say pretty alarming.
This reads like a prompt for a writing class… “deep sadness” after only one interaction, “Incredibly deep rage” where he needed “every ounce of self control” “to not tear me to pieces right then” and more rage
So either YTA because you’re not telling the entire story or he potentially has some mental health problems for an “older adult” to be so enraged by a teenager
Lol, I don’t think this is true. People don’t feel deep rage at a rebuffed conversation