As most of you know, 1 April is also known as April Fool’s Day.
There were many posts on social media last Thursday, designed to elicit chuckles from followers. I got caught out by some friends, who announced they had amazing new jobs or were being nominated for a significant award. I duly congratulated them, only to discover that CNN was not, in fact, replacing Anderson Cooper with one of my compadres.
In my defence, it’s not like they said they had been abducted by aliens, which (hopefully) would have aroused my suspicions.
April Fool’s Day gives licence – to those who are so inclined – to play jokes on friends and family.
Many years ago, we at the Compass used to print outrageous, false stories to see who would take the bait. I think one of my favourites was the proposed bridge from Grand Cayman to the Sister Islands.
We haven’t done it for a while, but then truth has become stranger than fiction over the past year. Headlines predicting earthquakes, fires, hazy skies courtesy of the Sahara Desert and a crippling pandemic might have been considered our boldest collection of nonsense yet, had it not been fact. The announcement of encroaching murder hornets would have had them rolling in the aisles in 2015.
We could all use a bit of humour in our lives right now, but when it comes to practical jokes, know your audience.
I remember when I was just getting to know my best friend Lynne, and we were working in the same office. I thought it would be simply hilarious to switch the functions of her left and right mouse buttons when she wasn’t looking.
She got back to her desk and tried to resume her work, instantly having trouble because her pointer wasn’t doing what it was supposed to. After watching her struggle with it for a couple of minutes, I came giggling out from behind a cubicle and spilled the beans. She was not amused.
I subsequently took the can of cockroaches out of her car before she drove home.
Some people love practical jokes. Just look at Jimmy Kimmel and Ryan Reynolds, not to mention Mr. George Clooney. There is such a range of what’s possible – from simple and fun to complex and borderline cruel.
My mother has a fantastic sense of humour. When it comes to playing tricks on people, she doesn’t go the big, elaborate route. She’s all about the subtle mind games.
Many’s the time she got my sister (who is a whiz with accents) to call a work colleague, putting them through some hellish conversation on the phone before eventually revealing the jape.
My poor friend, Leroy, mentioned something dismissive about the cello one night when we were all at dinner. With a completely straight face, my mother turned a steely gaze upon him, stating in a lofty tone that her uncle played the cello (a complete falsehood), which had Leroy backpedalling and babbling about his love for the misunderstood instrument, before he realised she was pulling his chain. His respect for her went up tenfold that night. To this day, he has never forgotten it.
I don’t know if this next one would be considered a practical joke, but it’s one of my favourite capers of hers. When I was still young enough to be living with my parents, but old enough to be going out to the clubs, I had a habit of coming home, heading straight for the freezer and grabbing the ice cream, making a goodly dent in it before going to bed. This was the boxed stuff, where you had to open four flaps to get to it.
One night, I walked in the door, and followed the well-worn path to the refrigerator for my ritual treat. Out came the box, I opened the first two flaps, and there was a note written in block capitals underneath: “NO, VICTORIA!”
I certainly laughed out loud at that one, before, of course, tossing the note to one side and reaching for the spoon.
Speaking of my misspent youth, when I was in halls of residence at university, some of the pranksters there realised they could unscrew the door handle plates on the outside of the rooms, and remove the handle bolts, essentially trapping the student inside until they saw fit to free them. After unloading two cans of Spaghetti Hoops over the bedding of one of them as repayment for a previous grievance, I had to walk around with my own bolt in my pocket as a preventative measure. It was exhausting, dealing with that bolt plate every day, but I had no choice – I was on the third floor, so window escape was out of the question.
When a few weeks had passed, and my screwdriver was worn down to the nub, I gave up. In a diabolical twist, instead of locking me in my room, the perps emptied the fire extinguisher all over me and my wardrobe of clothes.
That was educational money well spent.
I have to say, though, I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to playing jokes on people. I’m not willing to fully commit if it’s going to put someone in danger or real trouble. I’m no Johnny Knoxville.
I’ve certainly learned my lesson with Lynne – she is not a willing subject.
The problem with finding a worthy adversary is you must expect retaliation… Are you ready for that? A note in the ice cream is one thing. Drunken party photos of your fine self sent to the boss might be quite another.
Related Videos
