I have gone on at length in the past about
how much I hate April Fool's Day - no need to revisit that here. I'm more of a self-deprecating humor sort of gal, with occasional forays into making fun of general social trends. But is it really just my hypersensitive self who thinks that
this joke is out of bounds? As in, sort of mean?
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| And, yes, I HATE "Kick Me" Signs |
For those of you who, like myself, are too lazy to click, Kiwi Crate posted on its website the purportedly amusing story of
the "fun and playful" prank one of their activity designers played on her daughter today. You see, she handed her little one a foil-covered pan and announced she was giving her an
entire pan of brownies. So the happy child, agog with the anticipation of fudgy chocolate-y goodness, removed the foil and found not baked goods but a pan full of "Brown E's" - the letter E cut out of brown construction paper.
Gosh, that's just a kneeslapper. I don't know what's worse - the lame joke or the fact that she thought this lame joke was worth making her child feel sucker-punched. I can only guess that this person enjoys kicking kittens in her spare time.
And yes, she did give her daughter some brownies afterward. But, for someone like me, that would have been too late. Brownies just don't taste that good when they come with a side order of humiliation.
I hadn't seen that. I totally agree with you. I don't see the fun in making other people feel tricked, especially a small child. Way to build trust. (Oh, and let's photograph it and share it with the world on the Internet, too.)
ReplyDeleteMy dad used to just say, "You have a duck on your head," and that for us continues to be our April Fools tradition.
ReplyDeleteThe really sad thing this year was my husband came in from walking the dog and told everyone it was snowing and nobody believed him since it was April Fools Day. But it was true! Joke's on all of us who are tired of winter.
I've seen the brown-e joke on Pinterest and assumed it was aimed at roommates or teenagers or others who frequently consume all of the baked goods with no consideration of others in the house... Sorry. Deliberately setting up a small child so you can photograph it for your blog is just mean. I hate April Fools Day. Except for the occasional very clever, non-embarrassing joke. They're rare. NPR had one about military dolphins yesterday. That was funny.
ReplyDeleteMy friend called me all upset that she broke up with her finance and had called the cops to kick him out. She told me she was at the bar down the street with her sister. I was like OMG! Thinking I needed to rush over to comfort her and the she told me April Fools!
ReplyDeleteI really have to wonder about someone who can lie so well. She even got a sob in there.
I'm with you - the planned pranks always seem mean to me. I like the "duck on the head" style!
ReplyDeleteIt's not very nice to prank young children. Yesterday, a prominent blogger sent her husband a tantalizing, fake job offer on real letter head. She published a copy of it on the internet so we could all laugh along with her. I thought that was pretty mean too. In general, blogging pranks are pretty stupid, with the exception of Green Girl in Wisconsin's yesterday, which was funny and not mean.
ReplyDeleteGasping as I read. My stars. Oh, she's going to have fun at payback time when the kid is a teen, since she's established such a lovely grounding of mutual trust.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Patience! I think pranks are only good if everyone laughs, not just the prankster.
ReplyDeleteMy husband said "Hey, let's go get ice cream April Fool's" all in the same breath and then spent the next while cleaning up the damage. Dumb man.
ReplyDeleteI loathe April Fool's Day. The end.
ReplyDeleteI am with you- I hate jokes played on any body- but kids- just wrong,wrong,wrong.
ReplyDeleteI would like to give her a pan of something brown...
There are some things that just aren't to be joked about: don't put rubber snakes in my fridge first thing in the morning, and don't "fool" young children for the "benefit" of the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteWe were camping at a National Park, and while unloading the minivan, my dh and I looked at each other and asked, "Did you pack the tent?" "No. Didn't you do it?" "I thought you did packed it!"
The look on the 17yo lover-of-the-indoors was priceless. We rapidly confessed and all 3 of us had a good laugh. The 13yo outdoorsboy was actually disappointed over the lack of adventure.