taking offense
I have felt offended before. I have been offended when somebody callously and flippantly refers to some sort of tragedy: rape, 9/11, hunger, homelessness, etc. This emotion, though, had much less to do with external factors than internal. Being offended means that you are conflicted in your own feelings, or you have set up a stubborn guideline through which you organize your world. The offending object reminds you of your own conflict or that the world is bigger than anything you can understand.

When offended, the one thing you should not do is take out your offense on somebody else. It is really your problem, not his or hers.

Caveat: some people are just assholes. Still, there's little purpose in getting offended by an asshole.