I’m a big fan of office pranks, especially when you don’t realize you’re pulling them or when they arise from a beautiful moment of improvisation. My workplace is not exactly an environment that fosters carefree behaviors but I try to fit them in where I can. There was, of course, the weird human cutout in an old building that I dressed up, wired to a door, then totally forgot until the Mail Guy almost had a heart attack.
Then there was the small black crow that a group of us would move around the building in an attempt to frighten each other. I’m still not sure who all was participating but one day I came in and there was a pipecleaner around its neck like a noose. The next day, it was gone.
Someone was kind enough to leave some seed for it
Last Thursday I realized it was about to be my coworker Mandi’s birthday and I hadn’t planned anything. I enlisted the help of A, and we began brainstorming ways to honor her life and make her feel immensely special on her blessed day. I’d already done the whole balloons-in-the-office thing, so I knew I had to up my game.
Last year, huzzah!
Mandi is a huge fan of Game of Thrones and has read every book multiple times. She also allowed me to unethically use her HBOGo account to stream it on my laptop every week. What better way to celebrate her existence than to transform her office into a Game of Thrones dungeon? A and I were fully invested in this project and immdiately left for the Dollar Store, where we dropped a staggering $17 each to make Mandi’s dreams come true. I felt pretty confident that between the kids toys and the pirate stuff, there’d be plenty of relevant props. We were sorely disappointed but rose to the challenge with such genius ideas as Construction Paper + Yellow Cellophane + Battery Tea Light = a wall torch.
The most amazing thing you’ve ever seen
I couldn’t find a single dragon in the entire place, but I did find a horse. Horses are totally Game of Thronesy. As are plastic goblets.
We arrived back at work with our sacks full of treasure and waited for her to leave. At 5PM, we struck—only to discover someone had already beat us to it and covered her floor with pink balloons. Pink balloons are not the least bit Game of Thronesy. We briefly considered popping every single one of them but realized this was a terrible idea by virtue of the fact that popping balloons is terrifying. We could only hope that draping the walls in black tablecloths would be enough to overpower them.
I’d forgotten how messy her office was, which made it increasingly difficult to establish any sort of impact with our clever props. I’d bought two sets of army men to stage a battle scene but there wasn’t a single open surface for them. A improvised.
Everything else ended up being layered on top of her paperwork and lotion bottles and the more work we put into it, the more we realized we were failing at our original vision. The attempt to make her feel honored on her birthday was swiftly turning into an incredibly cruel prank that involved trashing her office and scattering random junk everywhere.
So realistic, just like the show.
After several hours of intense labor, we were ready to leave it for the next morning. We carefully backed out the door to avoid setting any balloons free, and were stopped by one of her staff who seemed puzzled that we were going to so much trouble.
“She took tomorrow off, she won’t even be here.”
She’d failed to mention these nefarious plans, and I couldn’t help feeling hurt and abandoned. Didn’t she realize that her birthday was all about me getting to justify a 90 minute lunch and misuse of office supplies? I no longer felt bad for the sad state of her office, I felt rather proud of all the damage we’d done. I even went back and added a sign to express my true feelings:
Monday morning, Mandi will walk into her office expecting the usual mess and routine and will be greeted by a scene too horrifying to imagine. It honestly doesn’t get any more Game of Thronesy than that.
Do you pull pranks at your workplace? What best-laid plan of YOURS went awry? Are you obsessed with any TV shows?
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Watch out that she doesn’t come at you like Lady Stoneheart.
Hahaha oh my goodness, seriously!
I will want to know her reaction Monday. lol And no I am not into pranks, as they never turn out. I don’t watch tv either. Ack I am boring!! hahaha
Hahaha I kind of can’t wait to see what she says/does. I bet it’s going to be awkward. And I don’t have a TV either……. buuuuut I totally stream my favorite shows 😉 You’re not boring at all, Jackie!
Thank you Aussa. I don’t know whether to be flattered or scared that you don’t think I’m boring LOL
I have thought about streaming some shows just to see what they are about, but not sure where to go to do that.
I use Netflix… and by “I” I mean “I use The Boyfran’s or my brothers.” Wow. I seem to have a major issue with paying for TV access. All you need is a friend who uses the same password for everything and you’ll be good to go, Jackie!
Are there any openings? There is no one as cool as you at my current job and I’m looking…
Also, my birthday was a few months ago, but I’m willing to let you decorate for it anyways.
Also, I have been drinking, so the fact that my spelling is accurate is more than enough for me.
PS: Have you found Ciderboys hard cider yet? Because that shit is the shit.
Haha well we’re hopefully firing a particular scum bag this week so you can totally have his job 😉
I’m incredibly impressed by your spelling abilities. I can’t type properly when sober, but my drunk texts/types are horrid. The Boyfran frequently sends me a screenshot of the time I told him I was “Druno like Sardinia.”
I have crazy OCD tendencies, and spelling is one of them. Even drunk. So if I misspell something, I’m one of three things:
Typing too fast and clicking send before a read through(happens more than I care to admit)…
So hammered that I genuinely won’t remember what happened, at all…
Faking the shit out of it in order to appear drunker (happened a lot more when I was going through my slutty phase)…
Haha! Faking it so they would see an opportunity? That’s amazing/I’m not saying I haven’t done it…
Well done! *claps, is beheaded by white walker, comes back as white walker*
Well done!
Hahaha! I read this on my phone earlier and died laughing. Excellent, I also feel the need to say well done. *burns bodies of slain enemies*
My boss turned 40 and we rented a helium tank from party city and filled his office with balloons and sucked the helium and left him several voicemails and sung happy birthday sounding like the chipmunks.
Hahaha! That is perfect. You know… of all the things I’ve done in this life, I have never breathed in helium. It always freaked me out but I think I need to just get out there and #YOLO it up.
I think your decorating is aussome. The HR/Office manager at my job is an angry entitled bitch so we don’t have much fun if she can help it. I am making a VooDoo doll of her…
Excellent! You know I’m a fan of voodoo dolls. Our HR person works in an office 45 minutes away which probably explains a LOT about why things are as they are.
Lol I wish you worked with me…. I was going to say I wished I worked with you… But then you’d question if I really read your blog :p
Haha! Yep, good point. No one in there right mind would want to work where I do 😉 I should write about the pranks we pulled at AT&T… that was such a different dynamic, it lent itself to a lot of ridiculousness.
The only pranks around my office are of the child variety, things like sticking glue traps to each other or fart jokes. Makes me wish I worked with crazy people.
Ha! Wait. I’ve never thought about sticking glue traps on someone… that could be fun. Kind of like taking the can of pressurized air (that you use for cleaning keyboards) and dousing someone in the back of the neck while they’re on a phone call.
Fart jokes, however, are never okay.
Wow, that’s awesome! I love the final sign.
Why thank you! And I really don’t want to admit how long it took me to write that… I went through like 4 half-dry sharpies and it was making the most unbelievable screeching noise… I kept waiting for someone to come investigate but I suppose they’ve grown accustomed to hearing strange noises coming from my office.
She obviously knew you guys would play terrible pranks on her which is why she took her b-day off. At one of my previous workplaces – where there was an abundance of useful things like forklifts, shrink wrap and caution tape – birthdays were a closely-guarded secret.
Ha! That makes sense. My bosses birthday was a closely guarded secret but nothing– I repeat– NOTHING is safe from me when I’m determined. I figured it out and decided to somewhat respect his wishes for nothing and just got a big obnoxious card from everyone + a balloon + a cliff bar with candles stuck in it.
He didn’t talk to me for a week. Not kidding.
One of my coworkers once went to England for a month to visit her family and friends. She texted me to let me know she had decided to marry her old boyfriend and would be bringing him home with her. She said she was excited to bring him to the office with her on her first day back so that we could all meet him. I decided to surprise them with a little two-tiered wedding cake (my first ever — and it really turned out cute if I say so myself).
On the day they were due to come in, I decorated the break room with a banner, flowers, and prominently displayed the cake. A bit later, she walked in — alone. She immediately went into the break room for coffee and, when she saw my display, she burst into tears. It turns out her old boyfriend had backed out of the marriage at the last minute — so she was alone. It was awkward — but the cake was delicious!
Nooooo! Ah, I’m hunkering down in my seat just thinking about the awkwardness! That’s so awful, especially given that you’d gone to such lengths to do something special. Gosh…. awkward…. but hilarious. At least she had some yummy food to cope with.
This is AHHHmazing. Your decor is simply exquisite. I vote everyone should dress AND ACT the part tomorrow as well 🙂
I wish I’d thought of that! Ooo… who would I be? I could be ironic and go as Tyrion…. If I got wardrobe pick, I’d totally be the Mother of Dragons or Marjorie. I could bring Zola to be a dragon… Okay let me see how much time I have to pull this off… 😉
Hilarious! Love the props! Amazing what $34 and some creativity can accomplish!
Right? We are like queens of the Dollar Store, we’ve done some pretty marvelous things with all that junk they sell.
It’s way better for her to walk into all of that on a Monday that’s not even her birthday, Aussa. Think of it. She’ll say, “What the fuggot that Friday was my birthday!” So Game of Thronesy did not really go awry, I don’t think.
By the way, I’m pretty sure that a $17 purchase at a dollar store makes you at least a 10 percent owner. Make sure they send you that partnership check next month!
Ooo! I’d love to be part owner of the Dollar Store, they have all sorts of amazing things like chicken pot pie and plastic wind chimes and little bags of rocks.
I’m thinking maybe this should be a seasonal thing… like every couple months we do something equally heinous to her office. I’ll call it an exercise in boosting employee morale.
Happy Post Birthday Monday morning Mandi!!!!! Might wanna lay low for a bit Monday morning Aussa. Here’s something though……..At least you didn’t leave cake for trashcake/meatlady to scarf down. LOL. Still really cool of you to go on a mission to make a co-workers B-day memorable. That rocks out loud.
Ha! You know, we thought about cake but Mandi’s starting some new low carb thing so I didn’t want to derail her. Gah, that’s hilarious…. maybe Trash Cake will have some use for the props once they get thrown out of the office!
Well looks like Mandi’s low carb diet is Trashcakes loss then. LOL. Thanks for the laughs from the workplace Aussa.
I’m pretty impressed to be honest. If I came in and my co-workers had gone to all that trouble I think I might cry real tears. RIGHT BEFORE I STABBED THE NEAREST KING AND SACRIFICED A BABY. You know nothing, Aussa Lorens. *strokes GoT beard*
Hahahahahaha I am for real chuckling over here, particularly at how absolutely disturbing that comment is for anyone who hasn’t watched the show/read the books. Amazing. So well done, Beth.
Also! Your last statement reminded me… I’d totally planned on The Boyfran and I being Jon Snow and Ygritte for Halloween but she’s dead now…. I just really wanted to tease my hair, carry a bow, and hang a sign on The Boyfran that says “I KNOW NOTHING.”
Oh who cares if she’s dead. PLEASE do this. 🙂
I really want to. I can do it in memory of her…. ha
I’m obsessed with many TV shows, the latest being House of Cards, which is kind of modern day Game of Thrones. I agree with Beth, though… that what you did there shows REAL LOVE.
That’s a really good way to put it, about House of Cards! Interesting, hmmm…. I love that show. I kind of think I liked Season 1 more than Season 2 but I definitely watched the second season in about a day and a half so that still says something.
We moved a guy’s office out onto the front lawn of the building. Desk chairs lamps and even the fake ficus tree. He walked right by the mess and never noticed. He opened his office door and to our utter amazement he closed the door again and went home. For some reason, he thought he had been let go. Talk about coaxing someone down from the ledge. Prank totally backfired and big boss ate our lunch.
No! That’s bad on so many levels! First off, I love this idea and kind of very much want to follow in your steps. But that’s so sad that he thought he was fired! Wouldn’t that be a weird sort of business practice though? “You’re fired and we’ve burned everything you ever touched.”
Too bad I’m not in your office… actually I’m not in any office, but if I were I would want to be in your office.
We could have a sword fight, it would be amazing! I’m a little jealous that you’re not in any office at all…….
Do you pull pranks at your workplace? What best-laid plan of YOURS went awry? Are you obsessed with any TV shows?
Don’t have a workplace, don’t know, no.
Do you ever prank your kids or Cimmy, Jak?
I think WordPress ate my reply! I thought I had responded to this, but evidently, I didn’t.
The last prank I did on Cimmy didn’t go so well– she didn’t think the fake BSOD was that funny. It operated as a screensaver and if you don’t know that the text is bonus garbage, well… she knew I was pulling one over on her because my eyes were dancing, but, she still didn’t think it was that funny.
If you would be willing to include silly office games, well, Cimmy and I have contemplated introducing the kids to boffer fights (padded swords et al). My daughter wants an archery set BAD but I am trying to get her to consider NERF projectiles.
Hahaha! Cruel, cruel. Love that she knew you were messing with you based on your eyes. Those can be a dead giveaway when you’re having way too much fun with a situation.
You should totally get your daughter an archery set. It’s the new badass weapon of choice. *strokes bow*
Strokes sounds sexual but it was not intended that way, especially since we’re discussing family choices. Ahem.
WordPress ate my reply again– I think I know what’s going on. I can’t seem to reply by the WordPress.com Notifications to your WordPress.org blog.
I would have gotten our daughter an archery set but Cimmorene worries about what would happen if our son got a hold of it. This is the Boy that put slashes in our metal yard shed with a 3-lb. axe and has put big holes in his bedroom door (with his feet, not the axe).
Younger sis #2 is actually a very good shot with a bow and arrow and she used to have an archery range set up. Naturally I asked her if she’d set it up again but she said she couldn’t afford to. (Maybe if her husband slashed his budget for toys for himself, but… that’s never going to happen.)
What! That’s not cool! I’m not sure it’s happening to everyone, I don’t know why it would you– argh.
And WOW to the axe in the shed! Sounds like a boy 😉
I hired a guy in a gorilla suit to come to our office for my bosses birthday. He sang, jumped on him, made balloon animals, and pretty much tortured him. Happy I still have a job!
That’s incredible. My boss is pretty laid back but I’m pretty sure I’d have some sort of criminal charge levied at me if I tried that. The gorilla suit sounds amazing though…. I could rent one of those and have some fun…
For my 50th birthday, my work friend Beibered up my cube. I had Justin everywhere. She even photo shopped me into a picture with him and hung them all over the entire building. I looked like a pedophile. It was awesome.
^now that is disturbing and hilarious
Haha! Okay, see that’s an amazing coworker right there! I am proud. I need to keep that on my list for next time.
OMFG – I cannot stop laughing!! I am actually holding my breath right now as …I ……type … … … … thi_____________ HAHAHAHahahahahaha!!
absolutely fantastic!
Thank you, thank you!
Sadly… or maybe fortunately I never had a job that would allow for that sort of thing. (you cn’t really do that to cash registers and canned fruit displays)
Had I ever been able to do such things, I likely would have been fired very early in my career.
Right? Hmm… I worked in customer service for Albertsons while I was a freshman in college… I’m trying to think if I ever played any pranks… I think I was too busy being depressed. Ah, youth is wasted on the young.
I would suggest gluing a couple dozen kitchen knives to Mandi’s chair to turn it into the Iron Throne, and write “Winter Is Coming” in every page of her calendar up to December.
OH! I totally should have thought about the Winter is Coming thing for her calendar! Damn. I’ll just do that randomly in like a month because why not? Also: Love the idea of Iron Throning it up. We have a fairly strict “no weapons” policy that includes any sort of toy or replica so I was mildly worried about any realistic looking knives… thus the foam and inflatable variety. I like to pretend to follow the rules so they won’t ever think to check my bag or desk…….
If it fairly strict like TSA strict, with scissors, lighters, and water bottles also banned? 🙂
Also, FYI, I thought some more about this calendar idea, made you a full calendar, and tweeted it to you.
HAHAHAHA!
One day we filled up our managers office with balloons for his birthday – closed the door and turned off the lights in there so when he opened the door a wall of balloons hit him in the face.
We laughed lots.
Haha I love it. When we did her office before, we bought like 400 balloons, thinking it would fill all the way up. Nope! It was only thigh-high or so. I’m impressed that you all managed that!
This is awesome! Scarier than popped balloons though is when they pop in your face as you blow them up. Ahhh… happened to me last night! Best work prank, well there’s been many. We work in a prison and our office was outside of the prison in a big demountable building. There was a CPR dummy that would end up in questionable positions all over the place. You go to a meeting, come back… he’s in your chair. Freaky. But one day we decided to put in the team effort to prank the biggest trickster at work. Stole his car keys while he was in the prison and put the dummy in his car. Then as we all lingered at home time, watching him walk to his car… he got the biggest fright of his life. Cruel but funny. We captured it on our cameras to reminisce the great memory.
Oh my gosh, I’m so impressed I can’t even handle it. We should work together. I’ve done a few awkward things with CPR dummies (especially the baby ones… it’s just too easy…) but putting it in someone’s car is incredible. Your workplace sounds fun, I’m jealous! I need more people like you around here!
And oh I totally agree about balloons popping in your face. That’s pee-your-pants worthy right there.
How to tell you work in advertising:
1. You’re wearing the office birthday crown prop left over from that “Kar King” spot (and trying not to think about the hygiene status of the last birthday celebrant)
2. They’re pouring birthday margaritas on the “Drop your Suggestions Here” table outside your office door.
3. They’ve stayed up all night to turn your entire floor into a mini golf where the prize at each hole is a different mixed cocktail. (You try not to think about where you have to put the ball to win the Pink Lady at the Marilyn Monroe cutout hole. You also try not to think about how you just wrote that…)
4. It’s 10:00AM
On the plus side,you don’t have to worry about that bitch in HR, because you just remembered: YOU’RE that bitch in HR…
WHAT! So Mad Men is totally legit and you guys drink all day?! I’m jealous. I need to make a career change, obviously. Though I’m terrible at mini-golf so I’d be the sad sober sot.
haha I love the crown and the decorated chairs. I am sure your colleague will love it, too. You guys must like her very much.
She’s that hilarious person who always “goes there” and says the offensive thing we’re all thinking. We all need someone like that in our lives 😉
Ha ha, that’s great! Wish you were my co-worker! I had a colleague once who was obsessed with Spider Man. A little Spider Man doll was his pride and joy… so I stole it. Then every day, I’d send him a picture of Spidey on his travels and a little note to let him know how he was getting on 😉 He knew I’d done it but couldn’t prove it 😉 I gave him back – eventually and anonymously 🙂
Sly. And then if it had been me I would have covered my tracks by stealing my own toy next.
Always taking it up a notch, I like that.
That sounds like that movie Amelie, where the gnome goes on international travels or something. My brain is suddenly foggy… I should eat something.
I love that you stole the Spider Man. I did that in college with our guy friends’ couch cover… we went so far as to throw it off the top of a parking garage… we eventually gave it back without confession as well 😉
I was once a full time nefarious prankster- until attempting to joke with a vegan, catapulted my decent to this sorry state of never having fun at work. I put a picture of a roast beef in her cubby and all shit broke loose. Nearly got done for Harrassment for laughing. Need to get a job on the nut ward. Great post thanks.
Whaaaat! You really got in trouble for that??? People need to learn to take a joke, geeze! If we can’t make fun of each other for personal choices and belief systems, then what else is there?!
Nicely done, Aussa! I’m sure that she’ll be thrilled. I was the victim of a prank at work. While working as a field technician, my co-worker had stealthily placed womens underwear at the bottom of my tool pouch. While the customer was in front of me, I had withdrawn my cutters, which were hooked to the underwear. I’m sure I turned several shades of deep red as I tried to disengage the tool from the underwear.
Hahahaha! Oh my gosh, that is brilliant. Oh my… oh… I can totally fit that into my current situation. That sort of seems like the sort of thing one could be fired for though so I’ll have to pick my victim carefully.
On a positive note, the out-of-place balloons may have shrunk considerably by Monday, rendering them less a distraction to the masterpiece you created!
I hope so! I went in there earlier after she found it and it was quite fun to be able to kick through them, so I suppose it’s all worth it. I was like a kid in a ball pit, such bliss.
I love that show! It seems plans appear a lot better in our heads than in real life (at $17 budget) I think popping balloons is fun 🙂 I done some pranks in the office (I think is healthy when working in Menatl Health) but not everybody appreciates it as much as I do. Hope it went well today 🙂
Oh yes, in my mind it was going to be like a Pinterest masterpiece… the sort of transformation you see on a TLC show. Instead, it was like something you would find in a hidden closet belonging to a recently-captured serial killer.
Popping balloons is terrifying. I remember that game where you had to tie one to your ankle and then pop everyone else’s while trying to save your own… I always just ran away, cradling my balloon for dear life.
That’s an amazing setup! You are a magician and entertainer, you genius!
*bows*
Why thank you!
She was quite pleased and impressed this morning, thank goodness!
I had a superhero theme party for my 40th birthday this year. And EVERY single person got into the theme. Would that count? I was Superman obviously. Cause I resemble him physically.
No way! That makes me smile. I want a themed party, so badly. Maybe for my next “big” birthday, which will be 30 in just 2 years. I checked online and you can totally do a sleepover in our Zoo for like $1,000. That seems worth it.
I agree, popping balloons is terrifying. My hubby and friends think it’s hilarious how I run from balloons and don’t seem to find my explanation of WHY they terrify me to be a good reason. As a kid, we were at a birthday party where we had to sit on and pop as many balloons as we could in a short time. I sat on mine, popped it, fell over to the floor, and then TWO other children sat on and popped their balloons right on or by my face. I crawled out of the mayhem on my hands and knees, deaf, and crying. The b-day kid’s mom’s answer to me was “You leave – you lose”, so I stuffed as many cookies/sweets in my pockets as I could and hid in the bathroom until the mayhem was over.
Oh & this is my complete nightmare, although funny to see happening to someone else: http://youtu.be/QSsB4OPM900
Oh my gosh, I am so charmed by this. I just watched this while having a cup of tea and I love all of them so much, what wonderful humans!
That sounds like a traumatic experience! I have a vase of balloons in my office (naturally). My SIL brought my one-year-old niece by for a visit one afternoon and blew one up for her… she was amazed and enchanted. And then it popped and she sobbed like the world was ending. I felt so terrible and like I’d deeply wounded her psyche. I also couldn’t stop laughing but that’s just because I’m evil.
Brilliant. I’m sure she’ll love your efforts – especially if someone else cleans it up later. 😉
At a weekly paper I briefly worked at, every chair in the office was put in the boss’ office. On top of desk. Wherever it would fit. I forget why this was done. But it was a hoot! Wish I could have seen his face when he opened the door to his office the next morning.
Haha! I like that!! Piling random furniture seems like an absolutely brilliant idea. It seems like any time you take a massive amount of one object and then cram it into a tiny space you’ve got a sure win on your hands!
You. Crack. Me. Up.
Are they hiring at One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest?
Seriously, I’d fit in perfectly. xxxxxxxxxx
We’re always hiring, for some reason the turnover rate is remarkably high. Only the weirdos stick around 😉 Apply away!
At my current workplace it seems to be mostly restricted to posting embarrassing Facebook updates if anyone leaves their phone unattended. But at a previous workplace we used to make emergency prank calls after hours, until one day I had my friend make one on my behalf and she was just a bit too believable and didn’t know how to stop. We decided to restrict ourselves to splashing colleagues with bodily fluids after that.
Ha! Oh gosh, I can’t imagine anyone here touching each other’s phones, nope… though I’ll admit to snooping on my bosses when he was having an issue with it. I couldn’t help it, I was collecting intel for future missions.
I’ve definitely been known to send some inappropriate emails when people fail to lock their desktop computer– blows my mind, I won’t step away from my desk without locking it! Saboteurs lurk everywhere.
And I just added “Island Party Planner” to your island responsibilities – although based on what I’m seeing here in regards to – ah – “workplace efficiency” I’m going to have to ask for receipts and a time card
Haha very true– I may not be the most efficient when it comes to time and budgeting, but…….. I can create meaningful experiences, which we certainly need on our desert island with my Bible.
My wife and I don’t play pranks on each other but we do enjoy scaring the shit out of one another. Our favourite is hide in the bathtub with the shower curtain closed and wait for the other to come in to the bathroom and then BAM! Shit just got real. Any closet is aslo good, even hiding around a corner or standing very still in a dark room can be really effective. We do this sparodically and randomly so we never know when the other will strike.
AAAHHHH!!! It’s the worst! I mean, it’s amazing and hilarious and wonderful when it’s ME doing the scaring but I cannot stand when the Boyfran does this to me! I get so amped up by the fear of anticipation…. I think the worst was when we were at a hotel and I was in the shower and I had very consciously locked the door to keep him from doing anything. That was the same trip that I learned he could pick locks because he ended up scaring the shite out of me and I screamed like I was being murdered. I’m amazed that no one called!
Have you seen the Youtube couple “Prank V. Prank?” Sounds like you and your wife!
I haven’t seen that but I will check it out. Picking locks? Oh shit. That would so hard to deal with. You are never safe.
I just gave him a key to my house last night because I’ve locked myself out 4 times in the last 6 months.
He was like “Ooo now I can surprise you even more.”
I reminded him of all the weapons he kept finding stashed around when we first started dating. Bad idea, Boyfran.
I’ve found myself on the receiving end of pranks, and oddly enough, it was always lots of fun. And you have perfect timing, again! because I just blogged about that!! and I titled the final part ‘How I managed to turn my life into an epic mashup episode of Castle and pretty little liars..’, So, I must be pretty obsessed with Tv shows. I have officially been diagnosed with OCD- “obsessive castle disorder!” and there was a point of time when I was obsessed with the vampire diaries, Mostly just the Evil, villainous characters of the vampire diaries. I gave up on the show once they killed off my favorite evil villain, Katherine pierce, I don’t know what that says about me… but oh well. 😉
See, you have the perfect sort of personality! Obviously 😉
I haven’t seen Castle or Vampire Diaries but I did watch a fair amount of Pretty Little Liars while I was backpacking because it would consistently stream from some website onto my shitey little netbook. I ended up being impatient to know what was going on so I read the full synopsis on Wikipedia. That’s the only time I’ve ever done anything like that! Not sure what that says about me either 😉
Haha!! Pretty little liars is notorious in that they leave you more questions than answers. And Everyone on the show has been A at some point of time. I’m not even keeping track anymore It is frustrating enough to justify your actions! But I still need answers!! ANSWERS! And You should watch Castle! It’s the perfect show for you! writer and detective, make an epic duo to solve crime, The creators of that show probably drew inspiration from your life.
Haha ooo I like stories/shows about writers, I shall put it on my list!
OMG! That is AWESOME! 🙂 Can I please have that Peter Dinklage pic if she gets mad? He’s next in line for a major crush-on now that Hank Moody’s off the air (except for repeats and eventual, tragically-edited syndication…)
We figured out how to upside-down the screen on my boss’s monitor by pressing a certain combination of keys. We told him “See what happens when you lean on your keyboard all the time?” He literally always puts stuff on top of the wireless keyboard which makes no sense since you could technically use that thing from anywhere in his office…
Haha okay I had to google that and of COURSE it’s Californication 😉 Peter Dinklage is totally crush worthy, I’m not sure why it’s never occurred to me to put celebrity photos in $1 picture frames but I may be about to redecorate my office.
And okay I must know this screen upside down thing. That is brilliant, I tell you. Brilliant!
(Attempted to hit “reply” from my WordPress notifications button which appears to have failed.) OK, to topsy-turvy someone’s computer screen press Control+Alt then hit the down arrow. To restore, hit the up-arrow. 😉 Have fun!
Oh my goodness, just did it to myself. This is amazing and I will be having all sorts of fun with this, you just don’t know.
Best birthday surprise EVAH, I’d say! Do me next please! I love, uhhh, Martha Stewart, and my *cough* whole house *cough* could use a themed workover. I will even leave for a weekend so you guys can work your magic. 😉
We still do this for our kids on their birthdays…we usually transform our dining room into whatever theme they mention (OR we arbitrarily choose while perusing the high-class magical party aisle at Walmart–“TEAL ZEBRA! No, wait–RAINBOW CONFETTI, ahmigash SPONGEBOB”). It’s fun, AND we get to hear, “Mom. I’m 18.” in that annoyed-sighing-embarrassed-but-amused voice we love so much.
Haha oh my gosh Stef can you imagine if I tried to Martha Stewart your house? It’d be like awkward pinecone crafts and shredded quilts and cupcakes piled everywhere. You’d probably have a varmint problem by the time I was done.
I love that you do that for your kids. My family has always done something similar… it’s one of those traditions you always enjoy and most likely they will carry it on with their own kids, just wait!
😀 I can totally see that. It’d be all “Martha Does the Dollar Store”.
We could call the theme: “Living. The Way We REALLY Do It”
Hahaha yes– that would be perfect. Oh my… can you imagine letting people see how you really live? Oh wait… that’s kind of what blogging is…
*muffled laughter*
Prank LIKE MAD….
Got to. Must be done.
My insane sibling and I STILL prank people.
recently we went to the 99 store and got MANY blow up pool mini dinosaur toys.
Sat in the car, blew them all up (it’s really probably good a cop didn’t come over to see what we were doing… “Hi officer, we are blowing dinos!” ??? yea…glad that didn’t happen…)
Taped them to chop sticks and stuck them ALL OVER a friends’ yard…some were…uh….in a state of love making…it was subtle….
Around Easter we came back and left plastic dinosaur eggs filled with BABY dinosaurs.
‘Cuz that’s how we roll.
BTW: we are both well over 40.
This makes my heart sing. The only thing I’m not thrilled about is the fact that my dollar store does NOT have blow up dinosaurs 🙁 *tears clothing, throws ash on head*
Now I don’t even watch that show (haven’t read the books either) but that looked like a lot of effort and dedication. I can’t believe she took the day off!
Right? I mean– let’s be real here: I’ve never EVER worked on my birthday in the history of me being employed but she really could have been more considerate and let us live out our little fantasies. Pssh.
Also: You should watch GoT. There are lots of brothels, it’s perfect for you!
LOL! you are awesome! I’m taking my B.Day off next week. Actually taking the whole week off but still….. My colleagues like to sing Happy B.Day and then I tend to turn red as a tomato.
Okay yeah getting sang to is the worst! I mean– it’s pretty much necessary for life and I’ll force it on anyone that I can but I hate that moment, when everyone is staring at you and you’re like “haaaiiii” just sitting there, waiting for the song to end.
Taking the whole week off = doing your birthday right, huzzah! Oh and Happy Early Birthday!
This is beyond awesome. My office isn’t really that pranky. It’s all just general mayhem.
General mayhem pretty much describes this place too, ha. I’m doing my best to increase the prankiness though, that’s fer shur!
Love that you love to prank! I’ve never done the balloons bit but I did superglue a co-workers desk drawers shut and also glued the phone receiver to the base so she couldn’t answer it. Not very original in the idea department but oh-so fun anyhow!
No, I think that’s brilliant! How on earth did they ever manage to get it open?! Did she know it was you?
OMG you are both the best prankster and the best party planner. If you snuck into my room on my birthday and did a Vikings theme (That’s the show I am even more obsessed with than GOT), it would kind of make my life! 😀 I hope your coworker appreciates the effort. hahaha
I think she appreciated it! She spent most of the day caressing her framed Tyrion photo 😉 So that’s a good sign.
What is this Vikings you speak of? You like more than GoT?! Do they give away free money or something???
At least, you didn’t give her a Red Wedding.
I should have had a bunch of frumpy adolescent girls standing about and then worn chain metal under my work clothes…
Praise the old gods and the new! and you said you couldn’t craft! You re-created Westeros! and to think our office pranks consisted of duct taping desks, and throwing a rotton bananna peel into a trash can. we clearly need to step up our “game”
Hahaha! The old gods and the new, I should have somehow incorporated that! I’m not sure that buying a bunch of weird stuff constitutes crafting but you know what? I’ll accept that compliment, thank you 😉
This kind of thing makes me miss working in an office environment, the creepy crows, untimely absences and balloons, aaaaah, to work in an office again… (I honestly miss it, by the way). I do love me some Game of Thronesy, be it decoration or TV. I also think that someone should work on a “Are you a Lannister or a Targaryan” app stat. There, the ball is in your court now, someone.
Oooo… that’s an excellent idea! It could have all the houses and then weirdos would end up Bolton and lovely-but-clever people could be Tyrells. I like it. Let’s do this. Except it won’t be an app if I’m involved, it will be one of those folding paper things you used to predict your husband when you were 12.
I don’t remember ever doing any practical jokes. I would suck at hiding the fact that I did it. Instead, I wrote a story about a whole office that individually pranked a single coworker. Check it out! http://cimmorene.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/writing-exercise-2-beginning-line/
I will be over to read soon! And that scenario just by description sounds very familiar to me 😉
That is truly horrifying. Well done! I love (and really miss) elaborate office pranks. Most people are willing to put in a few minutes, but I love YOUR dedication! I have set up everything from the “Turn EVERY SINGLE item in his office UPSIDE DOWN, including chairs, books, computers, etc.” to the “Wallpaper the whole cubicle, chair and INSIDE of the drawers with returned mailers from their least favorite client” to the elaborate long-story-setup fake phone pranks.
My favorite cubicle decoration for birthdays trick? Dollar Store Spider Webs, you don’t really see the WEB. You stretch it out over the whole area, THEN you sprinkle glitter and those annoying shiny things that decorate tabletops and the inside of cards, they STICK to the spider webbing, and then glitter AGAIN so that when they go to clean it up? They get glitter all over themselves, in their clothing and hair. Just a thought.
Woah there, I feel like I’m consulting a pro! Glitter? Now that’s particularly cruel. I like it. I can think of a few office frenemies who are deserving of such torture…
Before everyone lost their sense of humor, we rearranged the keys on my girls keyboard so that right in the middle it spelled bitch…it was funny….like really really funny….even my idiot boss laughed…and no his face did not crack 😉
Hahahaha I am getting so many good ideas here, this is like crowd sourcing at it’s finest! I could totally have fun with this idea, especially if I gutted some old keyboards for extra letters…
This is so amazing. I need better co-workers!
Right? Imagine what we could do if we pulled our skills and talents together…
Okay whatever you did with your blog sucks donkey cho-doo. I can’t leave comments on your new post and WordPress just randomnly dropped you as a blog I follow. I typed the single greatest comment in the history of comments. I am now going to bury my head in said donkey’s behind. Twice if this comment doesn’t post either.
It posted! But wtf. Why won’t it let you leave a comment? Wait, you mean on the Man-Child one? About what the hell is wrong with me? What’s it doing to make you non-commentable? I have major comment paranoia and when I write a really long one on someone else’s blog, I always copy it before I hit reply…. but I also go out of my way to make my life difficult.
You really went all out! I’m impressed with the Game of Thrones theme! It’s quite fabulous, really! I don’t do many workplace pranks or tricks because I work in an office with college students and that’s what they do! 🙂 It does lighten the tension, so I think you are doing quite a service to others given the environment you work in! One day I came to work and they’d taken things off my desk and placed them inside jello…like the stapler embedded in a bowl of jello! It was something they’d taken from an episode of The Office. I thought that was clever and felt honored they’d gone out of their way to make me laugh. I hope your coworker fully appreciates your efforts, Aussa!
Oh my gosh, that’s like the ultimate thing you have to do in an office– and yet I haven’t. Yet…. I love the dedication and planning that has to go into it.
Did you break the jello apart to rescue your stapler?!
I really love her name and how she spells it and her love of Game of Thrones and how much trouble you went to in order to make her birthday special. I also love Tyrion, more than is healthy.
I love Tyrion as well. His whole story in the season finale made my heart hurt.
I am the least pranking person in the world. I hate being surprised and just naturally assume everyone else does too (because I am a narcissist, apparently). But the other day we had a broken emergency power generator that was beeping annoyingly and we hid it in another supervisor’s office. It took him a few minutes to find and it was pretty funny.
That’s brilliant. See, the best pranks are those that just sort of happen out of nowhere.
I think the most epic prank I’ve ever done was at AT&T but I’m kind of afraid to blog about it because it’s not exactly politically correct…… to put it nicely.
If I can talk about my mother fingering me, you can be not PC. If you ever want to share.
One time, I decorated a friend’s entire house with army men – army men in the plants, army men in the salad leaves, army men in the make-up drawer …
Hahaha! That’s incredible. I salute you!