Example:

Me "Do you want the watermellon cut in half?"

Response: "Wipe it off with a napkin." (has OCD with respect to dust/cleaning)

Does this mean:

1) Yes, but wipe it off with a napkin first
2) Just wipe the watermellon off (Me - detail oriented)

How can I get response #1.

Person gets upset when you say "Do you want it cut in half"? Claims I'm stupid for not knowing that it's supposed to be cut in half and avoids the question.

I know exactly what you're talking about. There's a guy I work with that does that all the time. I ask him a question and his response hardly ever pertains to what I asked. He goes off on a tangent. So if I were asking him that same question and he said "wipe it off with a napkn." My next question would be, "so yes?" Usually then he realizes that he never answered my question to begin with and instead of making me look stupid it kind of turns it around on him.

As Dr. Phil would say, "It's not about the watermelon". In my opinion, if you have a lot of this kind of conversation, there are hidden resentments.

It is wipe the watermelon off(there may be dirt on the outside) and cut it in half.

Choix:

Yep, probably. The dirt interest overpowers the answer I need.

JM:

"So yes" would result in an argument with things like "You know it's supposed to be cut in half"