Red:
I "get it," for I've been known to pull a practical joke or two, and I rather liked Candid Camera and similar shows.
I never came up with anything as inventive as the stuff on TV, but I had a good laugh pulling jokes on my kids. I'd told my oldest son I'd pay the downpayment and other costs for his first home, so he and I went house shopping one day to look at a couple places. He'd accepted an offer on Wall St. firm, so the deal was I'd spring for the upfront costs and he'd pay for the rest. He and I drove, and drove, and drove, eventually arriving before a run down house in Poughkeepsie, NY.
I told him the realtor was nearby and if he liked it, I'd call the realtor and have him come over so we could go in and take a look. He was a good sport about it and said he didn't want to go in, but that if I thought it was the best thing, he'd find a way to make it work. I let him "sweat" for a couple days over the prospect that was the house I'd buy for him. He sent me all sorts of text messages and emails about other properties he'd found in NYC (Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens) and a place on Long Island that he thought might be worth considering. I kept replying that I still thought the fixer-upper in Poughkeepsie was a better long-term value.
The following Monday, I told him I was just kidding. You never saw a bigger sigh of relief on a grown man's face. LOL Though he wasn't nuts about the fixer-upper aspect, it was the great distance from Manhattan where he'd be working that he didn't like. I ended up setting him up in a tiny -- just barely big enough to literally hop, skip and jump from one end to the other -- Manhattan flat. He's lived in it for nearly 10 years now.
I pulled one on my students in the first semester that I taught during grad school. At the start of class, I announced a surprize exam and handed it out, instructing the students not to turn the page until I instructed them to do so. The first page of the exam had two very easy questions that everyone could answer correctly and in about two minutes. The next page said "April Fools." I gave everyone five bonus points for suffering my sense of humor.
I kinda like practical jokes, though not when I'm the butt of them. LOL But then who does? LOL
