Prank ‘Em Until they Smile

It's been a hectic day around the office. People are all sorts of cranky because of the new processes institued last week involving taking sick days and scheduling vacations. While most of my office buds are busy sounding the "I hate this place" alarm, I was holed up in my cubby little cubicle planning my shenanigans. I can’t stand to see people bummed so it is now, after much planning (ok not really "much" but hopefully enough) that I begin to spring my plans into action. Hey, if nothing else, I’m hoping to elicit a few chuckles from my cranky fellow employees.

I began by switching the laces in my running shoes and then coloring the white laces hot pink. Everytime I catch someone starring down at them as I walk by I tell them I haven't misplaced them since I made this subtle change.

This little mixer upper gets me a few glares (from management), a few stares (from the hoity toity girls in new accounts) and one genuine belly laugh from Ezmerelda the cleaning lady.

But I was not spreading nearly the amount of joy I anticipated, so I moved on to phase two of my plan.

I wrote a very well thought out email detailing my support for Elmo versus Oscar the Grouch in the Battle of the Childrens Television Network. I pose intelligent arguments for why Elmo should reign supreme and why his second in command should be the number 9. I forward this email throughout the office's global email listings and wait patiently for replies.

This gag gets plenty of returns. Most of the email replies are in support of Elmo with less than 10 percent decenting and in favor of Oscar the Grouch (from, you guessed it, the management).

My last and final prank is pretty low budget and low maintenance according to the prank standards of my humorous peers.

I paged myself over the office intercom and wait to see how long it takes anyone to stroll by my cubicle and inform me that I am looking for me.

A day that began cranky and full of contempt morphed into one filled with a few laughs. Hopefully, I have inspired a few of my fellow coworkers to spread the cheer, as well.