Practical jokes that go over the line..

[starbkjrus]

Since I have absolutely 0 % tolerance for practical jokes of any kind I think it's safe to say that if it were me your friend would be in a world of hurt right now. Of course if it were me I suppose it would not have happened at all.

Bring him a lunch as an offering of peace. Make sure the beverage is filled with visine and the food loaded with laxatives. That should do it.

[ccga3359]

Since I have absolutely 0 % tolerance for practical jokes of any kind I think it's safe to say that if it were me your friend would be in a world of hurt right now. Of course if it were me I suppose it would not have happened at all.

Bring him a lunch as an offering of peace. Make sure the beverage is filled with visine and the food loaded with laxatives. That should do it.

Perhaps one should re-think his pilgrimage to Canada and his presence amongst fun-lovin' SOKS.

[Dan R Porter]

One of my college professors has a brother who attended one of the northern US univeristies. A group of students bought cases of green Jell-O, dissolved it in the hot water in their dorms, then all rushed out and dumped it into the fountain in the middle of campus. It congealed into a green eruption, which the university maintenance crew had to clean up. They had to remove and disassemble the pump of the fountain, pressure wash the inside of the fountain, and bleach the color out. That one would have been funny to see, but not to clean up.

Sadly the joke was on the maintenance men who work hard everyday with out any glory. They are the unsung heroes. Unfair to those that work so hard toi provide for they're families in my opinion.

[Old Hippie]

About ten years ago, a group of us played a prank on a mutual friend. He'd been trying to work on his motorcycle, doing maintenance that required knowing when one piston was at top-dead-centre. After trying several ways to discover it, he decided to put a pencil in the spark plug hole and turn the engine over by hand until the pencil was sticking out as far as possible.

So far, so good.

He put the pencil in and started turning the engine by hand. The pencil got shorter, and shorter, and shorter...and then dropped inside the cylinder. Then he spent several hours trying to avoid having to take the head off to get the pencil out, to no avail. Once everything was back together he made the mistake of telling it as a "Stupid Me" story.

Fast forward to a club meeting several months later. We all chipped in to send one guy to the nearest Wal-Mart and buy up every pack of pencils they had in stock. While he was visiting the beer trailer a whole gang of us descended on his bike and put pencils everywhere. Nothing was damaged and he got a lifetime supply of pencils out of it (I think he donated them to a program that gives school supplies to needy kids...).

At least it didn't go too far. We had a good laugh, and although he was embarrassed he also knew that we weren't going to push it any further, so he could relax about it.

I'd give anything to share that laugh with him again today. He was killed in a car accident last week in Oklahoma, rear-ended by an elderly driver who couldn't see that all the traffic in front of him on the freeway was stopped. To paraphrase the old saying: "Keep your friends close and don't make enemies."

:ootd:

[Spartan]

Brice,

I have to admit that I got a lot of chuckles (LMAO) reading through this thread. But, what happened to you was not a practical joke, it was mean spirited, IMO. Sometimes, some actions can be an alter ego of the person themselves.

[KD Burke]

When I was in college, my life (as well as those of about 30 other cadets) was made miserable by a calculus instructor, who was doubtless brilliant, but a hopeless teacher. An example, he had to grade on a curve so as not to fail the entire class; I once got a C+ on an exam with a 13% score.

We exacted a small bit of vengeance by harmless pranks.

First, we removed every scrap of chalk from the classroom. Giving us a blissful 15 minutes of peace while he acquired more.

Next day, we removed the erasers. It was difficult not to laugh as he filled every scrap of the chalk board with meaningless gibberish, while looking high and low for a menas to remove some of his scribbling.

Third day, every desk in the room was facing the opposite direction. As there were chalk boards on that end of the room as well, he actually had to check the pacard above the door (twice) before satisfying himself he was in the correct room. (No, he didn't recognize any of the members of his class...he had no connection whatsoever to his students.)

The fourth day? No desks at all. We were all sitting on the floor, ready to attentively take notes....

Now, we weren't malicious. We did nothing to harm the man. But we had to find a vent for our frustration at being required to endure this inadequate instructor. We were a motivated bunch. We wanted to learn from him. But his disdain for lesser minds made him incapable of teaching.

So, no regrets on that one.

[Eric Peterson]

The food thing was out of line, I agree with just it was just plain stealing food.

I played a joke not to long ago, I was walking by a pay phone outside of our Hastings when it rang. I picked it up, some guy asked if Shelly(I think it was) was there, I said sure she is in the shower. There was complete silence for a couple of long seconds then a hang up. As I walked off the phone rang again, same guy asking for Shelly, this time a little harsh. I went ahead and fessed up and told him he called the pay phone outside Hastings, he cracked up and said nice one. I think what if he hadnt called back, would Shelly had been in danger.

[Swampthing]

Bring him a lunch as an offering of peace. Make sure the beverage is filled with visine and the food loaded with laxatives. That should do it.

Man, you beat me to it!

[Pleater]

I'm afraid my reaction would be apparent compassion for someone who is so obviously in dire financial straits, pointing out that he must have come into work feeling really hungry, and pretended that steeling food was a practical joke to hide his shame at being so hungry so early in the day.

I'd only mention it to a few people, a couple of the staff, maybe one or two students, solomnly, with obvious concern for his well being, conjecture that he might be in trouble with gambling - it couldn't be drugs, could it?

Maybe someone should watch that he didn't start dipping into the pockets of unattended jackets, maybe ask around to see if he was borrowing money...

Then say no more.

Decline to gossip if the subject comes up.

I did something similar to someone who borrowed money and then didn't repay it, despite my asking a couple of times - it was only a small amount, but so were my wages, and his attitude annoyed me.

I just happened to ask a colleague, in strictest confidence, about the person's financial situation when the floor manager could overhear.

Three weeks later there was a 'reorganisation' and he was moved to a department where he did not handle money directly.

Oddly enough the tills always balanced a lot better after he went.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[The Barry]

I'm a big fan of a well-played practical joke. Anyone can be caught on a bad day, true, but life is far too short to be so serious all the time.

That's why we're pre-programmed with a sense of humor. At least I was.