What does this sentence mean?
“To order someone else to sharpen and straighten the pencils on their own desk displays a curious value system in which superficial neatness is worth the price of deep resentment.”

What does“superficial neatness is worth the price of deep resentment.” mean?

Question

What does this sentence mean?
“To order someone else to sharpen and straighten the pencils on their own desk displays a curious value system in which superficial neatness is worth the price of deep resentment.”

What does“superficial neatness is worth the price of deep resentment.” mean?

Answer

I think what the writer is saying is that the person who is being told to arrange their own pencils will resent the person who tells them to arrange their own pencils. The person who tells them to arrange their pencils knows that this is true but thinks that being neat is more important, so they tell the person anyways.