Keep your sanity with office pranks
I’ve been part of what we call the work force for a few years now. Worked at a few places before my current job. They were all different. The people was obviously hence the mood/vibe was always changing from place to place, but one thing was the same across the board: office pranks.
They have always been a part of me since I started working. From the classic stapler wrapped in pudding (from the office tv show) to any other (but we’ll get to that).
Let’s talk about some of the good office pranks that happened just in the last 9 to 10 months, and what they’ve done for everyone at work.
When people start working at a new place, normally they don’t know what to expect. They don’t know anyone. People need some way to establish trust and most of all, companionship. that’s when office pranks play one of the biggest roles of all (drinking can help too though).
The wrapper
Once upon a time, a colleague from work was on vacation. What’s the best way to welcome someone when they were away for two weeks? — Prank obviously.
That was exactly what I did. I wrapped everything in wrapping plastic paper. Dexter style. And I mean everything: chair, computer, table, keyboard, even the pens were individually wrapped. Took me about one hour to accomplish that.
If you want to see how that was done here’s a gif showing how: the process.
You should be careful choosing the person you’re doing this. You have to be sure that the person will take it as a good and hilarious thing. When they do take it that way, you now have a friend for life.
The barbie setup
Newton’s Third Law of Motion says the following:
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Like so, if you prank someone at the office you are now next in line to be pranked, awesome right? When I went on vacation earlier this year I knew something was going to happen. At least I was hoping for that. I would be disappointed if nothing happened.
To give you some context about this one: one of my mates from work and me moved in together, you know, roommates. Living alone is just too damn expensive. The thing was, everyone at the office was always joking about me moving in with the guy. The typical gay jokes were in place.
When I came from my vacation I found my new work environment. Everything was pink. There was even a framed picture of the guy that it was going to live with. Heart shaped framed pictures I might add.
I was really proud of everyone when I saw it. Actually I was so proud that I used my computer like that for almost a week. People from every department would come over and visit me just to see the work of art.
The loud one
This one was not made for me, I was not even a part of the team that accomplished the prank. But great minds think alike. The conversation went something like this:
Person 1: You know what would be amazing?
Person 2: What?
Person 1: Do the horn prank on a chair.
Person 2: Oh man, that would be awesome.
Person 1: Do it!
And he did. Unfortunately I was away when it happened so I didn’t get to see the result. But I do know that everyone in the building heard it. I don’t have the real picture with me but here’s the prank I’m talking about.
The little things
Then there’s the little things that some of the guys at work do that just make your day better. Sure they’re dumb, and some people wouldn’t like them. For me, that just means they care, but most of all, they do make my day better.
Those small things can go from changing the volume on your computer to change keyboards or mice that are normally connected to the computers with bluetooth.
The best one of all
Now, the one that actually made me write this post.
I work for a very active company. They’re always trying to do something for the people that work there. For instance, this year everyone is going skydiving. Every now and then you’ll get a random text from the CEO telling you something like:
How would you feel like skydiving this weekend?
We’re more than 80 people, so it takes a while to get your turn. This week I finally go that message. I went nuts, this was always something that I wanted to do, so you can imagine my reaction. I felt like dancing. To the point that some of my coworkers were annoyed. Because you know, I wouldn’t shut up about it.
So they did something about it. They stole my phone. Changed one of their names to the name I had for our CEO and sent me a text that was something like this:
I’m sorry Marco, but you are not skydiving this weekend. I’m sure another opportunity will come up in the future.
I felt like someone just took candy from me. And they let that feeling sink in for more than two hours. I moaned and moaned. But then, they called me from that number and said: GOT YA!!!
I couldn’t believe it. I was impressed. Was it bad? No, it was the best thing ever. Knowing that it was all a lie, and that they thought about all that in less than an hour? I think my work is done. They can now prank on their own.
One thing is for sure. We all had a really good laugh and most of all, we’re now even closer than we were before. That’s what office pranks do for you. It makes your 9 to 5 work day more fun than it normally would. If you do know any bad side to office pranks let me know. I haven’t found one yet.
One more thing, I did jump last weekend and it was amazing.
