the costs of working

Working in an office environment is strange.  We have only been working in offices for a microscopic amount of time in evolutionary history.  So it seems like we will eventually figure it out, but that aint yet.  I witnessed this interaction where an employee went in to talk to a manager, and the manager was audibly irritated at them, asking questions like what about this and that, and then building to what do we (as a company) care?  I can understand he was busy and stuff, but it was painful to watch because the employee was actually trying to be helpful and proactive, and his boss didn't see this at all.

I don't pretend to have social skills, but I think we all need to be more aware that when we are getting annoyed at someone, it is because of internal reasons we get annoyed and probably not because what they are saying/doing.  Although people can be purposefully be annoying, these are jokes and should be treated as such.  The rest of the time, the person is trying to do something.  I don't know what because it's always different.  But when they approach you in an office environment, it is awkward and unsure to begin with, and the individuals have their own things going on and life crap that is on in the back of their mind.  Very few people only think about and deal with work when they are at work, and although work dominates our lives time wise our minds are always trying to escape it because few people enjoy their job and some of those people are mentally imbalanced workaholics.

Since you probably know the other person better than I do, you can tell yourself points of trivia about the person, why they formulated what they are saying, what they may be actually trying to say.  Reading between the lines is a very valuable skill.  Try to bunch all your anger inside instead of displacing it onto coworkers who in all likelihood are put off being where they are at the moment.  Then release it when appropriate on a punching bag or maybe a cardboard cutout.