The original passive-agressive response sucks, because you can't just deal directly with the problem - you have to manage the emotions the other person projects on to the situation. You just have to know the person well enough to tell if those emotions are from, for e.g., job stress or a lack of sleep, or from some deep childhood trauma.

I think that the bigger problem is that passive-aggressive responses tend to bleed out into all sorts of other, unrelated situations. At least they do if they aren't talked about. It can be really difficult to discuss as a friend. It can be almost impossible in a work setting.