Does my office mate owe me pleasant small talk during slow periods?

A few years ago I use to share an office with another man. Neither of us had all that much work to do so we had alot of down time. I wished he would have talked to me about non work related topics during these slow times, but he was aloof and distant. I tried to engage him in small talk to break the ice but he gave me one word answers.

I finally asked him why he did not talk to me and he said "I do not owe you anything. It is not good manners to try to force me to talk to you" In other words he thought I was the one being rude by trying to talk to him.

He was not quiet or shy and had many friends in the office and would be quite talkative when they came by.

Was I rude for talking to him or was he rude when he gave me one word answers to my attempts at pleasant conversation?

That person sounds a little too serious and anti-social.

I would think no one "owes" you small talk, but it is more
pleasant to be at work if you work with pleasant people who do make a little small talk between busy times.

Sometimes, people have personality problems or personal issues that make it so they don't want to talk to others.

I would not ask somebody like that why they aren't talking to me, but I would find somebody else more friendly to talk to.

Until I had to start working in an alternative location due to a bad work situation, I had a nice coworker who talked to me about her Siamese cat and her upcoming vacations, which was really interesting.

In my alternative location, there were a lot of interesting people too and they talked about politics, etc. with you, if they were not busy and you were not busy.

Different people...different social habits. Most people perfer at least some light polite conversation.

You're fine; he's a bit anti-social IMHO.

You were rude. If the guy doesn't want to talk to you leave him alone.

Get the message.

He did not think very highly of you. He respected you as a co worker and that's about it. He does not have to socialize with you or like you. He is a colleague and you ought to treat it that way.

In no uncertain terms he has told you with his one word answers and silent treatment that he wants a arms-length relationship or he wants nothing to do with you. So, don't push yourself. Just mind your own business, consult with him only on work related matters and leave it at that. There will be others in the office that you can be friendly with. Not everyone has to be friendly with you.

This kind of situation happens. Nothing personal.

The only thing your co-worker owes you is doing his fair share of the work. Beyond that he's not your babysitter and does not have to entertain you.
Did you ever stop to think that he didn't like you? That is a possibility too.

He apparently had something against you if he was not shy and talked to other people in the office. Maybe he was jealous. That's what it sounds like from the "I don't owe you" comment. I would shuck it off. You were not rude for making small talk. You were just trying to be friendly. Just let him alone.

There's a reason they call it work and not socializing; you're being paid to perform a job, not discuss your pesonal life.