I was at Bodo’s one morning last week getting a bagel before work. I had a few minutes to spare because I had to wait for the bus.

As I finished ordering a bagel, the lady behind the counter said, “Smile! You’re too young to be serious!”

I was a bit surprised. Usually people tell me that I smile a lot. Then again, it was early in the morning and I had not had my caffeine yet. I just thought it raised some interesting questions.

Am I too young to be serious? What does serious mean, anyway? What am I serious about? I guess I have moments when I’m serious and focused, and moments when I’m not. Sometimes I get the feeling that I’m serious more often than before. Is that a bad thing? I mean, I do have more things on my mind these days. Am I too young for that? Am I growing up too quickly?

Lots to think about, and some of those questions are quite important, but I’m not sure if I can answer them. Then again, perhaps all of this is irrelevant and I was just a little slow that morning. :-P