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A Primer on Pranks
Today, tricksters come out of their cubicles.
In many workplaces, it's the only day "when co-workers have an excuse for acting a little playful and laid-back," said Peter Handal, chief executive of Dale Carnegie & Associates, a training company. "April Fool's pranks have the power to bring a workforce together . . . to promote creativity and share in a laughable experience."
The jobs Web site CareerBuilder found in an online survey that one-third of workers had been either jokester or target on April 1.
Among the pranks that CareerBuilder called the most memorable: Someone filled a vending machine with beer cans. An employee paged a co-worker, claiming the chief executive wanted to see him. In one office, each woman visited the boss, one by one, to say she was pregnant and asked him to keep it confidential.
Handal cautioned that pranks shouldn't cross the line and damage equipment or careers. They should not cost the organization money, inconvenience colleagues, disrupt work or be taken seriously. "This isn't a day when anything goes," he said.
-- Vickie Elmer
