Pranksta

I come from a long line of fools who value a silly practical joke more than water or air. Growing up, my parents were always joking and getting their silly on; like the time my mom secretly sewed bells into the inside of my dad’s bowling pants. He made it as far as the front door when his jingly nethers stopped him in his tracks. I still have no clue what that was all about, but I do know my parents laughed until they cried.

At teacher’s college, I lived in a dorm with a fabulous group of chicks who knew how to execute a prank and there were pranks aplenty let me tell you. Looking back now at our dumbassery, I find it hard to believe that today we’re teachers. 

My friend Jen was a frequent victim. She herself is a prankster-savant and is the type of person who can make you laugh and keep you laughing until you literally fall down. I know this from experience.

She’d been to Florida over the term break where she borrowed some random guy’s coke bottle glasses to use as a prop in a ridiculous photo. Why? For a laugh of course. She had no idea this picture would come back to haunt her.

We attended college in a little farming town in Northern Maine. Not exactly a hub of entertainment. Unless you consider snowmobiling, potato harvesting and bar fights entertainment? So when the “Spring Fling” homecoming dance rolled around, we were all VERY excited. We joked about how desperately we each wanted to be voted “Spring Fling Princess” (no such thing by the way). Jen’s wildest dreams were about to come true.

We put up 100 of these posters…

….all over the campus.

Then we waited in giddy anticipation. We giggled as we walked to class, passing flyers yet to be noticed by Jen. We tittered as we past them again on the way to the cafeteria for lunch. And then we watched, holding our breath as the optically-challenged-princess-wannabe carried her lunch tray to the salad bar. As she hovered over the lettuce, we stifled laughter. While deciding which dressing to choose, she looked up in thought and her eyes fell upon a flyer. She looked confused at first and then horrified. And then, she started laughing. We all did. Hysterically.

Those were the days. Footloose, fancy free and blissfully idiotic.

My six year old is at the age now where he “gets the joke” and appreciates a skilfully executed prank. Of course, my three year old is too young to comprehend this level of humour, or so I thought. At the dentist last week, instead of choosing princess gear, stickers or bubbles from the treasure chest, she chose a whoopie cushion! As I said, it runs in the family.

Related: Grow Up Already

Related posts:

A Look Inside the Ontario College of Teachers—from a teacher/parent perspective Paper Bag Princess Grandparents—a video Pony Prank