April Fools?
Happy April Fools day, my friends! This is actually the strangest of all holidays, do you realize that? Today is a day where it is acceptable and encouraged for people to play pranks on each other. Apparently this is also a thing about St. Patrick’s Day I never knew about until this year, but mostly it’s just today. I’ve known lots of people who have been super into this day, but personally, I don’t get it. Then again, I don’t get pranks in general.
When I was a kid I really wanted to be into it. I wanted so bad to be good at pranking, but just on this day. I didn’t think about it any other day of the year, just April first. Which I guess is why I was always bad at it. You kind of need more prep time than the 24 hours or the very moment you want to prank someone. We did the classics, though; the rubber-band around the sprayer in the kitchen sink… that’s about it, actually, that’s all I can remember. Maybe my siblings have better memories. I want to think a lot of my ideas of jokes were telling a lie and then saying “April Fools!” and that was it.
I feel like April Fools is a thing that is made out to be bigger than it is. I remember people making a big deal out of it being April Fools, like someone was going to pull some big prank, not them, but someone, and you had to watch your back all day because it could be pulled on you and then wouldn’t you look silly? I never got the appeal of making other people look dumb. That was a big thing at camp, too, the pranks thing. I didn’t get it there, either. A girl in my cabin sprayed silly string everywhere for a prank and then was mad when no one wanted to help her clean it up. I’m not sure how that was supposed to be funny. There was also a girl that ran down the girls sleeping hall spraying a can of Axe the whole way. It was awful. The thing is, the event was the 30 Hour Famine, we were all hungry and cranky and tired, who has time for that?
My husband is more into pranks than I am. He lived in male housing for four years, I suppose it kind of comes with the territory. I remember going to Walmart after a Geneva event and passing by the hunting section and seeing cans of different animal urine, used for who knows what, and Logan picks one up and instantly has a plan to tape down the button and toss it in someones car, or room or something. He is more creative than I am in that way. He once dipped his roommate’s bar of white soap in white candle wax and put it back in the shower. It’s one of said roommates favorite stories to tell about Logan. That kind of thing I could kind of see being funny. No one gets hurt, it’s not super unpleasant, it doesn’t leave any lasting inconvenient clean-up behind. It’s just a matter of how long it took him to figure out why the soap wouldn’t lather. Other dorm hall pranks included taking a guys door and hiding it, and removing a guys entire bedroom and moving it into the bathroom. They made the bed and everything, it sounds impressive.
I could see those kind of things being funny, sure, in there own context with those people. I’ll admit, I kind of enjoy the videos where someone pretends to be a statue and then scares people taking pictures with them, or something like that. The innocent ones were people get a jump scare and a good laugh and then everything’s okay. So I guess I kind of get why people are excited for a day when it’s kind of expected. It’s a little more challenging, but you almost get a free pass for pulling off something unexpected today. As long as it’s in good fun, and in good taste, I guess it’s alright. Carry on, pranksters; enjoy your April Fools day.
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