Seriously…

When I was a kid, I don’t think I took anything seriously, but, I’m sure it was the same for everyone. As a teenager however, I think I took myself a little too seriously, and ended up sounding like a colossal douchebag at times. Now that I’m in my 20s, I’ve found a balance, and realized that if I want to have fun out there, then I shouldn’t take myself too seriously at all.

And I’m glad to say that the majority of the people in the world have figured this out, after all, it’s a maturation process. It’s just so unfortunate to meet people who haven’t quite grasped the concept of humour or jokes.

It works like this: if you talk trash, you can expect someone to say something back. It’s called “banter”, and if you are unable to handle it, then, well, don’t talk trash. I understand that there are lines that can’t be crossed (namely personal jabs, but as long as you keep it ludicrous, then no one should take you seriously), but man, some people just need to learn how to take it.

Case in point: today I was at a party where Kevin was talking trash to this guy. This was a continuation of something that happened the last time they met, but this time around, the guy was really sensitive and started getting upset. I was there, and from what I heard, I don’t think Kevin said anything out of line. He was just talking smack like he normally does, but most people just take it for what it is: nonsense. This guy felt he was losing face to Kevin and felt that what Kevin was saying was somehow detrimental to his reputation. What? That only works if Kevin was actually saying something legitimately true about him, but, since he wasn’t, I don’t understand how he reacted the way he did, unless he takes himself way too seriously.

So anyway, after this initial confrontation, I get into a small one with him myself. The gist of it was him giving me a warning about Kevin, and how he gave Kevin some warnings too that he never heeded (Kevin thought it was part of the joke, actually, everyone but this guy did), and how I wouldn’t do shit if that was the case. I, of course, reacted with sarcasm and a bit of humour trying to defuse the situation. I explained to him it was a joke, and that no one in that room was taking anything seriously. His reaction?

“You don’t know what happened to me in the last year. I’m a very serious person.”

Then he asks me:

“do you think he’s going to get home safe tonight?”
“Yeah, definitely.”
“How do you know?”
“He’ll get home safe.”

Then he walks off for dramatic effect. Buddy, you are taking yourself way too seriously. You think you’re more important than you are, and I suppose it’s a stage that we must go through to find our place in the world. It’s a big place, and there are a lot of people, and the things we do probably won’t impact the world, but, just because they don’t, doesn’t mean you have to inflate your own self-worth to think that they do. Part of growing up is realizing this, and I think it’s a step he skipped over.

What was worse was he had a friend who thought the same way. This guy was acting like a tough guy too and tried to find out which one was Kevin, but, for what reason? Last year during the whole drinking game episode he started making threats about how he’d “mess up Kevin” for challenging his friend in a drinking match. I don’t know what these guys are lacking in their lives to fiercely defend something so petty, but man, was it ever pathetic to see.