You know PLJay,
It's funny how often this kind of shit comes up. It's one of the reasons I quit going to commercial gyms and built my own in my house.
Some little punk always wants to test out how far he can push a bigger/stronger guy. And they pretty much have everything going for them, and here is why.
The big/strong powerlifter has the dedication and discipline to have gotten himself to where he is at, not by walking through life as Mr. Ultra bad-ass, spending half his time in prison for beating people down, but by adhering to his training, living a good life and dedicating himself to lifting. (The late Matt Dimel may have been the one exception to this rule).
Don't think Mr. Small doesnt know this. Mr. Small knows the likelihood of you beating him down is next to zero because you don't want to go to jail and throw away your lifting career. So Mr. Small figures the worst that can happen is you maybe give him a verbal smackdown, which he can probably fight back, or maybe even a punch or two. But the LAW will never be on your side. You are smart enough to know if you go to court, you will get your ass handed to you for beating on Mr. Small. Make no mistake, Mr. Small knows this and plays this to his advantage.
It's too bad that we live in a crazy-ass society where people don't respect strength anymore. When I lived in Atlanta, I felt like i got the respect i deserved for being big and strong. Since i have moved to Redmond, Washington (microsoft country), i feel that the respect has been replaced by loathing and indifference. Most punks out here hide behind money and the law protecting them.
I had an incident recently where I almost fucked up this punk kid who was rolling with us one night and mouthing off. My training partner made sure it never got that far, and I thought all was cool. However, I come to find out, he has been talking major shit. I was all set to drive to his house, kick in his door, and break a few of his pot-smoking ribs. But again, my training partner came to my rescue. He told me to remember Thomas Junta. Do you know who that is? That is the hockey dad who beat the small guy to death for mouthing off. He is now in prison for at least 7 years.
Don't think that with your strength, you aren't capable of working yourself into a frenzy where you hurt someone really badly. I wrestled with the same feelings you did. I felt like I had been called out and needed to respond. Fortunately, the feelings died down after a few days, and I don't really ever have to see this fool again. You are in a different situation since you go to the gym with this moron. I suggest you roll with your partners so they can keep you in check till this floats over. Maybe you guys should implement a no-razzing policy. You don't rag the bodybuilders and they dont rag you. YOu can probably work this out with the training partner.
Good luck. Save $$$. Build your own house of power one day and you can rid yourself of these fools.
/irish