Spring Break
Column: Safety first for April Fools' Day
Sam Slaven/Columnist
Issue date: 3/26/09 Section: Opinions
If I have only one pet peeve, it's inside jokes.
If there's one thing that doesn't peeve me, it's a great practical joke.
With April Fools' Day right around the corner, my thinking wheels are turning trying to come up with something original.
Unfortunately, I believe all of my great pranks are either cliché or too dangerous to perform.
So what is and isn't OK to do anymore on this glorious day?
A few years ago I was able to get the guys in my dorm to participate in a prank against our resident assistant.
We took stacks of the day's leftover school papers and wadded each sheet of paper into a ball.
We did this with literally hundreds of newspapers and when the RA left his room we completely flooded it with wadded paper to a depth of about four feet.
A good laugh was had by all, except for the RA, and the entire stunt was captured on video.
I look back on that stunt now and think about how incredibly and stupidly dangerous that was.
Just one spark from an electronic device could have set the entire dorm ablaze.
What about setting up your friend so their cell phone goes off during the middle of class?
That can be quite funny and embarrassing for your target; however, it disrupts the whole class and should not be attempted.
Prank phone calls are a thing of the past thanks to caller-ID.
You certainly don't want to pull a prank that may frighten someone so much that he or she may have a heart attack or have them dialing 911 on their cell phone.
In fact, I can only think of three pranks that are safe to perform anymore: the fake lottery ticket, the candy that turns your whole mouth blue and fart spray.
The fake lottery ticket has always been a great prank, but has been overused.
This could be stepped up a notch by taking a large check, balloons and a camera crew to a house to inform the resident that they have just won $10,000,000.
The blue candy is good because they might not realize they've been the victim of a prank for a few hours or even days until they've put the candy in their mouth.
I don't need to explain the fun that can be had with fart spray.
Just keep a video camera around to record the great reactions.
Whatever you attempt next week, just please remember to think it through first.
Nothing kills the fun of a practical joke faster than an injury.
Happy fooling!
Sam Slaven is a senior geography major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENopinions@gmail.com.
If there's one thing that doesn't peeve me, it's a great practical joke.
With April Fools' Day right around the corner, my thinking wheels are turning trying to come up with something original.
Unfortunately, I believe all of my great pranks are either cliché or too dangerous to perform.
So what is and isn't OK to do anymore on this glorious day?
A few years ago I was able to get the guys in my dorm to participate in a prank against our resident assistant.
We took stacks of the day's leftover school papers and wadded each sheet of paper into a ball.
We did this with literally hundreds of newspapers and when the RA left his room we completely flooded it with wadded paper to a depth of about four feet.
A good laugh was had by all, except for the RA, and the entire stunt was captured on video.
I look back on that stunt now and think about how incredibly and stupidly dangerous that was.
Just one spark from an electronic device could have set the entire dorm ablaze.
What about setting up your friend so their cell phone goes off during the middle of class?
That can be quite funny and embarrassing for your target; however, it disrupts the whole class and should not be attempted.
Prank phone calls are a thing of the past thanks to caller-ID.
You certainly don't want to pull a prank that may frighten someone so much that he or she may have a heart attack or have them dialing 911 on their cell phone.
In fact, I can only think of three pranks that are safe to perform anymore: the fake lottery ticket, the candy that turns your whole mouth blue and fart spray.
The fake lottery ticket has always been a great prank, but has been overused.
This could be stepped up a notch by taking a large check, balloons and a camera crew to a house to inform the resident that they have just won $10,000,000.
The blue candy is good because they might not realize they've been the victim of a prank for a few hours or even days until they've put the candy in their mouth.
I don't need to explain the fun that can be had with fart spray.
Just keep a video camera around to record the great reactions.
Whatever you attempt next week, just please remember to think it through first.
Nothing kills the fun of a practical joke faster than an injury.
Happy fooling!
Sam Slaven is a senior geography major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENopinions@gmail.com.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 2
Joe
posted 3/26/09 @ 1:38 AM CST
Honestly, what a stupid article. Thanks for wasting five minutes of my life.
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