Practical jokes that go over the line..

[ForresterModern]

I personally love the practical joke, as long as it all comes off well, in jest, with no harm done either physically or emotionally. But unfortunately this is rarely the case as others have described above, especially if you are the but of the joke. Having been on both sides fairly frequently and evenly, I wanted to relate an event that I pulled on my college roommate 30 years ago that I still regret, as although relatively benign caused a rift in our relationship that has never healed.

My roommate was a bit overweight, and would run across the street from our dorm to do a fast workout before racing back to the dorm still sweaty and smelly in his workout shirt, jock strap, sweatpants, and gym shoes literally 5 minutes before the cafeteria closed, then load up a full tray of food with at least double helpings of entrees and sides as well as several drinks for rehydration, a rather overloaded tray definitely requiring two hands to hold and carry. As he crossed a large open expanse area of the cafeteria space, open to view from the whole cafeteria, one of my other roommates distracted him briefly while I snuck up behind him and "pantsed" him (pulled his sweatpants down to his ankles), leaving him standing in the middle of the cafeteria in nothing but a sweaty jock strap and sleeveles tee-shirt holding a burdensome tray of food stuffs. All present laughed heartily, including my roommate/victim, but our relationship was never tha same after that, and several followup revenge-type pranks enacted by him were nealry equally painfull and embarrassing to me, although socially unmentionable in a family forum.

[Tartan Shortbread Jock]

Am so sorry, but I could not stop laughing at the car covered in Sticky notes
it made my morning, sorry Dan.
Father's day is coming soon, I guess I'll have to stock up on the Sticky notes.

[ali8780]

Brice,

Stealing food is not a practical joke--it's just stealing don't you think? I mean what is he going to do next in the name of practical joking, take your lunch money?

I'd love to be able to use that excuse!

I learned my lesson in College, A friend of mine and I used to prank each other back and forth. I once came to his apartment during the night and taped garbage bags to the outside of his door frame and then filled the space up with popcorn, and he retaliated by dumping old food and garbage on the top of my car which stained it to the point that I had to get it repainted. My parents were none too happy, and it was the morning of my last day there so we had about 2 hours of work to clean it up before we could drive 5 hrs home...

IMO-- as long as they are mild and not personal or do not cause harm, I can appreciate an intelligent gag (like on the office when they put Dwight's stapler in jello--ingenious!)--but it seems that they always tend to get out of hand in the spirit of constantly trying to pull a better joke.

Sorry that you had to be the brunt of that one Brice

[bricelythgoe]

Am so sorry, but I could not stop laughing at the car covered in Sticky notes
it made my morning, sorry Dan.
Father's day is coming soon, I guess I'll have to stock up on the Sticky notes.

Same here! I loved that picture!

[puckhead9]

Playing with someone's food is like talking about their Mother. Both are off limits!!

[Kilted in Maine]

I worked as a house painter during my college breaks.

I cannot recall what I had done to precipitate this retaliation but I remember one day opening up my lunch box/cooler to find my sandwich and treats floating in white paint. My co-worker was leaning up against a nearby tree with a big grin.

As I said, I cannot recall what I had done but probably deserved it...

I merely said "Touche! Now, what are we splitting from your lunch today..."

Playing pranks require a tough skin with the ability to accept what you have done and the almost certain retaliation. Escalation is also a given.

In the heat of the moment, it may be difficult to gauge one's perception of what is "over the line".

All I can say, is if you feel he has gone over the line - don't escalate the matter further. Explain to him that you feel he has and why (he probably doesn't realize it) then make up and move on. It isn't worth losing a friend over a misunderstanding!

[Weasel Mender]

My preferred form of prank is to allow the victim to "Snatch defeat from the jaws of Victory" Such as telling my roommate that I was going to put a bucket of water over the door on april fool's day. He came in through the window, removed it, took it from the sink, and poured it all over his shoes as I removed the trap from the sink. The look on his face,.standing there in sodden shoes realizing he could have drenched me with the bucket of water was truely priceless

Weasel :ootd:

[ali8780]

My preferred form of prank is to allow the victim to "Snatch defeat from the jaws of Victory" Such as telling my roommate that I was going to put a bucket of water over the door on april fool's day. He came in through the window, removed it, took it from the sink, and poured it all over his shoes as I removed the trap from the sink. The look on his face,.standing there in sodden shoes realizing he could have drenched me with the bucket of water was truely priceless

Weasel :ootd:

now that's clever

[Bluescelt]

A friend of mine Tom played a good one on his boss. Back when phones had a screw on mouthpiece he cut out a circular piece of paper and put it inside the cover and for a whole day the boss basically had to scream into the phone when on calls. He even took the cover off to check the mic connections and didn't think to look in the cover. He called the phone company in and before they came in Tom covertly removed the paper. I always chuckle when I think of that story. He also filled that same boss' Lotus convertible up to the windows with styrofoam peanuts and watched him drive off leaving a trail down the road! A devious chap to say the least!!

Scott

[piperdbh]

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.