Very serious, because sometimes you can ignore events that happen in far away countries, or to people you don't know. Or that are so removed from your everyday existence that giving them a second thought takes genuine effort.
And them something happen's like last weekend's EDL march and counter march by Unite Against Facism happens. The contentious issue which has been causing debate for at least seven years is the redevelopment of a derelict ex-manufacturing site alongside the road which allows much of the local traffic to bypass the centre of the town. (The BBC carried the latest decision in November)
In Dudley. In my town. The place I grew up.
I remember Christmases, marveling in the department store in the Toy Department at the toy train that ran back and forth above the shelves.
The tiny "world famous" sweet shop, the chemists, the supermarket, the fountain, the market, visiting the shoe shop to be fitted for new shoes.
And I have stood there, I have walked those streets, I have driven my car those corners, I have visited those shops.
I feel deeply, but I can't put what I feel into soundbite. And there are those who would say I don't have a right to an opinion. I'm not Muslim, so why would I care about the right of those from that faith to build a place of worship and I'm not English/Anglo-Saxon/Local. Go back about three generations back in my family you've covered most of the UK and also a significant geographical area around two of the largest cities in Poland.
But it's still my town.
A place, that for all it's faults, I still love. I love the people, I love the quirky 1960s architecture of the pedestrian bridge, I love the fact that we have a real genuine historic castle! I love our crazy accent and dialect.
I even moved back here, I brought my husband down here from Scotland. I work for a local health trust because I believe that local people deserve high quality care, all local people, from whatever racial, social-economic or religious background.
We don't get a lot of love from the rest of the UK, from politicians, from those who mock: our accent, our local food, our bare and decaying high street, our poor housing, our aging and increasingly ailing population.
But love is exactly what we need. It's not as simple as being on the correct side or opposing something... we need to start loving.
We need to love our town, we need to be able to take pride in it.
We need to love our neighbours, and recognize and celebrate our commonality.
All many of us could do during the march was stay away. I chose to stay home, as much as I would have liked to show some civic pride, show some resistance to extremism. Previous protests have resulted in violence and damage. And as much as I value my freedom, support liberty and the right to protest those sort of stories make me quite afraid. No one wants violence... and in the event their was none.
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