"There's a good chance these perceived slights are in Mr. Pallotta's head ..."
What? I understand the inference problem, and it's interesting to explain that as a possible solution, but do you honestly think that there's a "good chance" that the author—who experienced the situation first-hand; who had 3x more information [1] about the situation than you—was making it all up?
There's a much better chance that the author just didn't describe the situation with enough detail.
Oh, no, I don't think he was making anything up. I'm just questioning the accuracy of his perceptions. The phrase that really drives that is when he interprets the "partner?" question as being interrogated within his own home.
If you come by my house and asked if I have Black Ops II, I wouldn't relate the story and be like "ianstormtaylor interrogated me in my own home about an XBox game." I would only use that type of phrasing if you'd come by and started asking questions that had some type of accusatory loading.
What? I understand the inference problem, and it's interesting to explain that as a possible solution, but do you honestly think that there's a "good chance" that the author—who experienced the situation first-hand; who had 3x more information [1] about the situation than you—was making it all up?
There's a much better chance that the author just didn't describe the situation with enough detail.
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonverbal_communication