April Fools Day

Pranks and capers are one of my specialities. It all began in college when my sorority sisters and myself stole/borrowed a remote control from a neighboring fraternity.

Normally, I was an atypical sorority girl, yet the pranks, the toilet papering, the tricks were excellent fun. We took the remote to many locations and would take a picture of it. The remote went to hockey games, restaurants, parties, class, the student union. Then, we would mail these pictures to the fraternity president. We thought we were very clever because they did not know who was sending these photos. The remote was always by itself.

On April Fools Day this year, my friend Jodi and I wanted to pull a few innocent pranks that would not get us fired. After some deliberation, we decided that our principal was our easiest target. First, he has a great sense of humor. Secondly, he has some quirks about him that make him an easy mark. He is a neat freak, he adores Harley Davidsons, and we had access to his office since we come to school at the crack of dawn and he does not. However, on the day before April Fools Day, he made the comment, "Well, Sara, I hope you will be professional tomorrow," when we were discuss a different prank that was to be pulled on a co-worker. I had no idea if he was serious which then made Jodi and I question whether he would be a good sport about our pranks. Either way, it did not derail our intentions of a memorable April Fools Day at school.

The first prank of the day was placing a fake 50 dollar bill in the hallway where all of the teachers walk in. Many fell for picking it up. Jodi and I just watched and laughed.

Before anyone arrived at school, we changed all the picture frames in his office with photos that I had taken throughout the week of staff members. He is a Mountain Dew drinker so we placed empty Mountain Dew cans in his personal fridge. Because of his neat freak tendencies, we switched around his desk. He placed his stuffed animals into compromising positions.

Finally, we had taken some photos during the week. One photo was of Jodi taking a bat to his truck. Ryan sitting at the principal's desk with his feet up relaxing. Another photo was of Ryan reading his email on the computer in his office. I was in a photo talking on his phone. I digitally added a simple black box over our eyes to make it appear that it was a mystery who these hooligans were. Obviously, a person could figure it out. We emailed him these photos during the day.

The last prank of the day was spontaneous. A few teachers were chatting with the principal about where we would be going for drinks after work. I spied his truck keys on his desk and made eye contact with Jodi and then the keys. She knew exactly what I was thinking. We asked the secretary to get the principal out of the office for a few minutes. We snuck through the conference room attached to his office and grabbed the keys. We ran outside and moved his truck. Then, when we were all leaving school to have some drinks and he had no idea where his truck went. He found it, but rode with us anyway.

My mind just works in the way that is meant to develop and think of pranks. I had to behave a little since it was my professional workplace, but I am thankful that I work in a school that enjoys laughter and jokes...in a very professional way, of course.