Jokingly Serious

Call me dense, but I’m not good at telling apart jokes that sounded serious or could be a serious request.

The most annoying joking statement I had heard are ones that goes like “you’re so rich/you earn more than I do, therefore you can [do X]”. Seriously. Unless he is a friend whom I knew well, I really couldn’t tell whether is it just a friendly complaint about his financial situation, him being sarcastic or, even worse, a bitter snide well concealed as a joking remark.

Usually I’d just laugh along with it. But with all seriousness I kept a mental note of keeping a distance with these subtle complainers so that I could have a good look at their character.

* Note: This cartoon is inspired by a friend of mine who likes to ask me to treat him lunch in a joking manner. Despite that I know he was joking about it, I’m completely certain that he wouldn’t mind being treated lunch either.