Easily Offended Friend
Lately I have noticed increased difficulties interacting with one of my friends because they are starting to get offended easily around me.
Instance 1- AC went out in our apartment, and we got a temporary AC unit. Long story short, the unit blew the breaker and the breaker needed to be reset. I was gone when this happened but my friend was there, so when I got back to the apartment he told me what happened and said he tried to reset it already and it didn't work. I know that the breakers are difficult to reset, so I was going to try myself. My friend got really offended and started making comments and I didn't want to make him more upset so I just didn't try it. In the end maintenance reset the breaker the exact way I that I was going to.
Instance 2 - He lost his car keys while I was gone, so when I came back I tried helping to look for them. He got really offended when I started looking in places he had already looked, and again made comments reflecting that. I knew that he typically takes his backpack with him, so I asked if he looked there. He said yes, still very offended. I thought to ask him if I could also check his bag, but I didn't because I honestly didn't want to deal with his continued frustration as it was beginning to be directed towards me. The next morning I decided to check the backpack, and within 30 seconds I found the keys.
I really don't want to offend him and I'm just trying to help in a "two heads are better than one" kinda way. I don't know how to approach this matter with him, but I also don't want problems to not get solved because he gets offended, but when that frustration gets directed towards me it makes me not want to help. Advice?