"You're never serious" is the most ridiculous statement a person can ever spit out of one's mouth. Nothing causes my brain to swell more then the times that people have said this to me, or staked the similar claim "We never talk about anything serious." Why is there a need for anyone to be serious? Is there any actual state where someone can be seen as being serious? I think that what people mean by "serious" is "dull." Please be dull. The sarcasm and wild outbursts must end. You must now be calm and we will talk religion, politics, and the future. We will speak on these serious topics!
Why the hell would someone in my present situation have to be serious? My current state of being sees me: The age of 20, living in a college home paid for by my parents where my biggest worry is to keep the kitchen sink on at a trickle so the pipes don't freeze. However, even if I would forget this worry, the school sends a maintenance worker by on Sunday evening to check this for my housemates and me. My great worry for this week is getting two papers done, Philosophy and English, and I have only five more days to complete the job, which will probably get started sometime late Thursday evening.
The rest of my time will be spent in fits of laughter and bewilderment at the random occurrences that make up my everyday life. Yes, there will be times where my mind is blown by the stupidity of the occasional humorless jackasses we are all forced to deal with at times. However, these sad few are usually the most amusing in retrospect, as they are in the midst of lives filled with needless stress and bruised egos while I can grin and skip on down the road.
Looking at the website for the University's wonderful library, I learn of the exact definition for the word "serious" from the Ultralingua online dictionary. It states, which I will now quote and not properly cite, "serious (adj.) 1. Concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities; 2. of great consequence; 3. Requiring effort or concentration; complex and not easy to answer or solve."
This definition leaves an opening for many different possibilities of interpretation, and can hold a different meaning for all people and their numerous illusions. I actually have strong feelings that this word should be banished from the English language; the interpretations of the word are endless, it has no clear definition. Look at certain people in regards to the grand finale of Friends. There will be those who shed tears of sorrow when that show ends, who will dread the last minutes of that show because it will be the last time they see those characters do anything new. These people will throw giant parties in celebration of such an event. It will be serious.
I personally think people should worry less about the serious and more about the sense of humor. Strive or at least attempt to be clever and fun. I attempt and fail at this all the time. It might be a good idea to get serious when you're on the deathbed, or find yourself surrounded by a pack of rabid wolves while you're carrying a salted ham and wearing only your Rolling Stones boxer shorts. That is a time to be serious, and should be used as the proper definition for the word. Get serious when you have no other choice, and hope that a sense of humor carries you through an entertaining life that was worth the time and effort.