Easily offended? Why?

I'm getting a little frustrated at the number of people these days who are so easily offended or upset by what I consider to be trivial things. It usually comes from having the point of view that anything potentially irritating done by another person was totally deliberate and confrontational. Yet that same person will justify their own similar actions as being the result of neglect or inexperience. As the quote goes, "Never ascribe to malice, that which can be explained by incompetence.", yet so many people I know go around ascribing malice everywhere. For example, If two of my mutual friends happen to not talk to each other on an occasion when they're in the same nightclub, I get told by both that the other was 'deliberately blanking me'. If a joke or comment is taken by the recipient the wrong way, the rumour goes around that the speaker was being deliberately nasty. If people talk primarily to their friends then they're accused of making efforts to exclude less socially-connected acquaintances. If a friend of a friend makes a general negative comment, other friends of that person seem to assume that the comment was aimed them and assert that it was wrong and offensive.

Why is there this attitude of antagonism? Maybe it comes from people caring a little too much about what other people think, and basing their self-esteem on that. My friends never used to be like that but I think the newer set of people that have come onto the scene are not quite so immune. The result is that when other people don't say what is desired, there's a lot of resulting indignation.

It's not worth it. It just leads to stress and worry and further loss of self-esteem. People need to take more pride in what they do and draw self-worth from that, and on the other hand stop assuming that everyone else is actively against them. Most of us have enough troubles of our own without ever putting effort into deliberately trying to hinder other people.