The "you're in no position to make demands" trope
I think this qualifies as a trope, and it drives me nuts every time I see it.
A character says something like, “Sir, I’d like to go on the next mission,” and the person in charge snaps back with, “You’re in no position to make demands!”
Since when is asking to do something a demand?
That specific example is from the first episode of Stargate SG-1, but there are endless variations of it. Someone asks for basic information, asks to help, asks for food, asks to come along, or says something perfectly reasonable like, “May I speak with them?” and the response is some angry version of, “You don’t get to make demands here.”
But they weren’t making demands. They were asking a question.
To me, it’s just lazy writing. It’s a shortcut to create artificial tension by making one character overreact to something the other character didn’t actually say.
If a scene needs conflict, fine, but let the conflict come from what was actually said, not from pretending a request is a demand.
Perhaps it's better characterized as “The Request Treated as a Demand” trope.
Anyway, if this bothers you too, please add an example of one you've seen.