Happy April Fools’ Day

A friend on Facebook tricked me with this:

With a good bit of scrimping and saving, [wife’s name] and I managed to purchase this little cabin on the Maine Coast. I’ll be working part time as a lobsterman to keep busy. [My wife] will tend a few sheep and goats with [our dog] in our pasture. We hope to sell a little goat cheese on the side.

I thought, wow, that’s an interesting thing to do. Then, it dawned on me, April fools.

I don’t know how I feel about being tricked on social media.

I usually write about a few of my favorite April Fools’ Day jokes on April 1. Today, I don’t feel very inspired by the big joke day. Too much going on. Too much stress in daily life and the world.

My son-in-law’s birthday is April 1 and his family usually has a fun joke for him. I haven’t received the report for it this year yet.

A friend of mine who just moved had a visit from three neighborhood children. The girls came to the door and asked if they’d like a brownie. Then, they held up a brown letter E made out of construction paper.

I think that’s cute, especially for new, senior citizen neighbors.

Here’s a list of pranks from RISMedia on what not to do on April Fools’ Day:

1. Avoid pranks that would cause someone emotional or physical harm.
2. Don’t initiate a joke that would cause people to panic, such as pulling the fire alarm.
3. Don’t threaten anyone.
4. Don’t embarrass anyone or launch a joke that would hurt a person’s reputation.
5. Don’t start a food fight.
6. Don’t replace the water cooler water with vodka or another type of alcohol.
7. Don’t experiment with potentially hazardous materials on others.
8. Don’t tell your co-workers there are cookies in the break room when there aren’t.
9. Don’t turn in your resignation letter as a joke.
10. Don’t change a colleague’s screen saver to a pornographic image when he has stepped away from his desk.

RISMedia’s article “The Do’s and Don’ts of April Fools’ Day” also provides suggestions on modifying some of the ideas above so they would be acceptable in the workplace.

See also “The Top 10 Worst April Food’s Day Hoaxes Ever” for more information on what not to do on April Fools’ Day.