EXERCISE: And when the prank was sprung?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 1 April 2008

Rather simple, actually. Over at http://us.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/03/31/fool.pranks.work/index.html there's a list of work place pranks. Your task is simply to pick one and put it in a real - well, fictional - work place. Imagine the people, the office, the work and of course, the prank.

And the aftermath. What happens next? And then?

Let's see. In case the page is gone, the pranks are:

1. Put a pair of pants and shoes in a stall in the toilet to make it appear to be in use.
2. Send a fake love note from one coworker to another
3. Have all the women in the office tell the boss in strictest confidence that they are pregnant.
4. Call the electric company using a coworker's name to tell them that the person is moving and ask that the electricity be shut off.
5. Fill the soda vending machine with beer.
6. Rig the boss's chair to drop during a meeting
7. Place a sign on the toilet door saying "the company ran out of toilet paper, please use your own resources."
8. Page a coworker over the loudspeaker telling them  to report to the CEO immediately
9. Shrink-wrap everything in a coworker's cubicle
10. Put a "house for sale" ad in the newspaper for a coworker's home

Incidentally, the article suggests that faking resignations, gluing office supplies to desks, and covering cubicles in aluminum foil are common pranks. It also suggests that almost one-third of office workers are on one end or the other of April Fool's pranks.

So-pick a prank, and tell us how it works out in that office, right over there in the office building in your mind.

Write!

When we write, we let others imagine.