By Mark Wadland
It has recently come to my attention that some students are taking pictures of other students eating a banana, posting these photos online and crudely captioning them. This is very stupid.
It’s not the invasion of privacy that bothers me. That part, I can deal with. After all, curiosity is a part of who we are as a species. What concerns me is the lack of creativity in doing something like this. If you’re going to prank someone, at least come up with something interesting.
The classics, for example, though a bit old-fashioned, never get old, in my opinion. Pranks such as putting tacks on a teacher’s chair or taping a “Kick Me” sign to someone’s back are both simply an effort at good, clean family fun. More importantly, at the end of the day, there’s really no harm done – the pride hurts worse than the fall, so to speak. And I don’t think anyone should forget about another classic – pulling a chair out from someone who’s about to sit down.
It’s not the immature aspect of this banana-eating prank that bothers me. While I can be mature, it doesn’t mean I am 100 percent of the time – where’s the fun in that? But the lack of creativity, as I said before, is a problem. I would expect folks in college, and people in general, to be a bit more original, and to be able to add something new to the world of pranks.
When it comes to pranks, there are stupid ones, dangerous ones and brilliant ones.
Standing on top of a moving car as though you’re surfing in the Pacific Ocean would be a very
dangerous and potentially deadly thing to do, though it would make for a good spectacle that I think the whole family could enjoy.
Walking up to a stranger and shouting, “Dad, I knew I’d find you,” giving the guy a hug and running away would be weird, but probably pretty funny, especially to unsuspecting passersby. Most importantly, though, it shows others that you are capable of thinking outside the box – it makes you stand out from the rest of the crowd.
I think, just once per year, everyone who works at any coffee shop around the country should be allowed to put salt in customers’ drinks instead of sugar and have no fear of getting fired over it. Obviously, don’t tell them which day, as that would defeat the purpose of the prank. Would it upset a number of folks? Of course, but it would also be funny for workers – it would be a break from the monotony of the job and teach anxious, stressed-out folks to laugh at themselves and to understand that some things are not all about them.
I find it hard to believe there isn’t a better prank out there than taking pictures of people eating bananas and posting them online – where is the humor in that? It doesn’t have to be original, but if you’re going to prank someone, at least make it entertaining.