Possessive and Insecure

I was walking in a new neighborhood. I was trying to locate an address. I spent few minutes and failed. So, I thought I would ask a passer by. I see a couple approaching me. The guy notices me first, so I start talking to him: "excuse me". The woman jumps in front of him quickly, and starts talking to me. She gave me directions. I could not help thinking about how protective of her partner she was, and how rude her body language was. As if I was going to steal her partner, pick him up, and take him with me right there in the street.

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I was at a conference. It was the first round table lunch. A young lady sat next to me. Like all conferences, we exchanged greetings, information about our institutes, research areas, etc. First I was happy that a successful professional was so kindly getting to know me. After all, maybe we became good friends. Then, I noticed she was interested in learning about me at a more personal level: how many years I have been in the states, if I had family here, where I did my under graduate studies, etc. A few minutes passed, and I felt this did not sound like my typical first conversations at conferences when meeting new people. Then she asked a question indicating she knew I was originally from Iran. I paused. "I never told you I was from Iran, how come you asked this?", I wondered. "I saw you yesterday talking to my Iranian friends in Farsi", she said. It all came together. She had noticed me before I had even met her. She made it her mission to come sit next to me for lunch to figure out all about me. After all, who was I shaking hands and introducing myself to a guy I had met for the first time in my life, who she happened to like so much?

She continued being sensitive to me during the rest of the conference, and it was getting on my nerves. My sole existence bothered her. She tried her best to be nice. I never saw anyone happier when saying goodbye to me. "You are leaving?", she asked happily. Did she think I planned on moving to a new city just because of a conference? Did not she realize we were all passengers who had to co-exist in the same place just for a few days?

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I understand they are sensitive. I understand they may be in love. I understand jealousy is a natural feeling. What I do not understand is what gives them the right to offend me, to hurt me, the very first time they meet me in their lives, before they even know my name, to treat me as if I have no moral values, no principles. I felt sorry for them: They were trying so hard to protect something they did not have.