# People who take things to seriously? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 18, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535 "2013-08-18T03:27:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![slm2955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@slm2955](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slm2955)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/1 "2013-08-18T03:27:07Z")
How do you deal? For example you mess around and tell someone you’re going to take their lunch…(jokingly) and they took it way too serious and started keep their lunch from you. Because if you really were going to take it you probably wouldn’t have mentioned it in the first place:rolleyes:…but now they are all paranoid because of it… ---
**Author:** ![computergeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@computergeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/computergeek)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/2 "2013-08-18T04:11:41Z")
Some people don’t like to be teased. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/3 "2013-08-18T04:14:15Z")
I don’t normally go around telling people I’m going to steal their lunch. Sometimes I’ll walk up to them and, making a hand gesture towards their face, say “got your nose!” They rarely fall for it though. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/4 "2013-08-18T04:16:07Z")
I don’t normally go around telling people I’m going to steal their lunch. Sometimes I’ll walk up to them and, making a hand gesture towards their face, say “got your nose!” They rarely fall for it though. ---
**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/5 "2013-08-18T04:17:53Z")
I have (senior) colleagues at work who do this. A bit of playful joking is good, but IME the ‘‘got your lunch hahahahahahhahhahahaa’’ thing is usually more about teasing than being light-hearted, if that makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Zago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecccb3/32.png) [@Zago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zago)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/6 "2013-08-18T04:21:48Z")
slm2955 Is it possible that you aren’t as funny as you think you are? Maybe you just come off as weird. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/7 "2013-08-18T05:13:25Z")
Without actually being present to observe your “messing around,” we can’t know exactly how serious you seemed. Assholes sometimes think they’re not assholes. Some of us are self-aware, however. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/8 "2013-08-18T05:38:01Z")
> [@Zago](#): > > slm2955 > Is it possible that you aren’t as funny as you think you are? Maybe you just come off as weird. That’s what I was thinking - do you often say to people, “Come on, can’t you take a joke?” ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/9 "2013-08-18T05:44:38Z")
Sometimes certain people joke around too much and then nothing they do or say is funny anymore, it’s just tiring. Some things just aren’t funny, like an adult pretending they want to steal your lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/10 "2013-08-18T05:49:26Z")
Yeah, you’re doing it wrong. When you’re planning to steal someone’s lunch, don’t warn them in advance. ---
**Author:** ![slm2955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@slm2955](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slm2955)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/11 "2013-08-18T05:56:10Z")
> [@Zago](#): > > slm2955 > Is it possible that you aren’t as funny as you think you are? Maybe you just come off as weird. I don’t think I’m that funny ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/12 "2013-08-18T06:09:48Z")
> [@slm2955](#): > > I don’t think I’m that funny You’ve got company; so far it appears the entirety of the SDMB thinks you’re a tiresome asshole. I’m a tiresome asshole. Some people like that sort of thing and I can say horrible things about any aspect of their life and they’ll laugh and throw it right back at me and we’ll have a grand old time. If someone doesn’t take something the way I intended them to, I just let it go and make a note to carry on with them in a more formal way from then on. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/13 "2013-08-18T19:11:54Z")
**It’s “TOO”, DAMMIT!** ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/14 "2013-08-18T21:37:37Z")
If you’re as weird IRL as you are here, I’d keep my shit away from you, too. All of it. Not just my lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/15 "2013-08-18T22:00:13Z")
This one time I was given the keys to an army van to drive a military band to a dinner. Afterward, they were loading all their instruments and stuff and I abruptly said: “Wait, this isn’t my van.” [two second pause] “Just kidding.” They had that moment of confusion, and then smiled. The point is, it was a simple brief joke. I used actual comedic timing in delivering the punchline promptly, and if they hadn’t found it funny, I wouldn’t have been a dick about it. The OP is invited to draw what conclusions he chooses. ---
**Author:** ![slm2955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@slm2955](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slm2955)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/16 "2013-08-18T22:01:41Z")
Jokes are weird? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/17 "2013-08-18T22:13:38Z")
Humor. It is a difficult concept. Many people seem to think that if they copy the observed forms of “jokes” than they will be funny. These people are wrong. Without an actual sense of humor, they are creepy, not amusing. Behavioral Uncanny Valley. It is equivalent to knowing all the words to a song but being unable to carry a tune. It annoys and frightens if continued. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/18 "2013-08-18T22:24:49Z")
Moderator note > [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#): > > You’ve got company; so far it appears the entirety of the SDMB thinks you’re a tiresome asshole. Name-calling is not allowed in this forum; you want to take this person to task, do it in the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/19 "2013-08-19T12:22:37Z")
Also, the people who have difficulty being funny (and you can tell if you are one of those folks if other people react inappropriately to your “joking around”) often do not recognize humor from others. The person “protecting” their lunch from you might just be playing along with your earlier joke, making a running gag out of the event. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535/20 "2013-08-19T12:28:51Z")
Might there be a reason they think you are going to take their lunch? Have you, for instance, previously taken their woman (with or without prior warning)? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-take-things-to-seriously/666535.md?page=2)