I read something on Facebook that says you shouldn’t post an April Fool’s joke saying you’re pregnant when you’re not “just in case” someone on your friend’s list is going through IVF, or just miscarried, or for some other reason wants a baby and can’t have one because it might offend them or hurt their feelings.
I’ll admit that I’ve done this a couple of times on April Fool’s and everyone was like “Nice try, lol.” Everyone who knows me knows that I DO NOT WANT a child and that me actually being pregnant is incredibly unlikely.
But just out of curiosity, if someone on your friend’s list joked that they were pregnant on April Fool’s Day and they’re not, would you get upset/offended/hurt/whatever?
You shouldn’t post an April Fool’s joke saying you’re pregnant because it’s a shitty joke. What part is supposed to be funny, that you’re claiming to be pregnant, or that you cannot be trusted to tell the truth?
There are very few sacred cows, in my opinion. As a person who suffered three miscarriages, I wouldn’t be personally offended, but I’d think you had a pretty crap sense of humor. It’s neither particularly funny or creative. A good April Fools Day joke should be unexpected.
One of the things I realized when I went through that time of my life is just how many women in my life suffered pregnancy loss that I had no idea about. It’s something we just don’t talk about. I don’t know why. My situation became pretty public at work (because colleagues had to handle my cases). And a ton of people came out of the woodwork to talk to me about it.
So yes, it is highly likely that you have friends and acquaintances who have had issues with fertility on your Facebook feed, that would be unlikely to find your joke very funny. I doubt they’d be personally offended. But they might think a bit less of you.
I wouldn’t think it was funny. We did miscarry twice, but that was long ago and has nothing to do with it. I just don’t think it’s a particularly clever “joke.”
My girlfriend did that one to me one year. I had resolved to quit school and either look for a job or join the military to support her. Then she revealed the joke.
The next year, April 1 happened to be on a Saturday and my friend and I had scheduled some rock climbing (we were ahead of the fad by a year or two) and when I realized the date I asked him to have his wife tell my girlfriend I had twisted my ankle and needed a ride from the hospital. Apparently, my friend’s wife delegated that to another friend, who got the message screwed up when she called my girlfriend and said, “Grestarian is at the hospital because he—”
My girlfriend had dropped the phone and dashed for her car before our mutual friend could finish her sentence. My girlfriend headed to Admitting and they couldn’t find me in their system; she walked through the hospital to the Emergency entrance and found me sitting outside waiting to intercept her.
Now that I’m a woman in my mid-30s, I know and have read about so many people who have lost pregnancies, can’t get pregnant, get pregnant even though they didn’t want to, had stillborns, had preemies, had abortions, etc etc…I just can’t deny the fact that getting pregnant and carrying to term is such an emotional roller coaster.
It’s not worth a lame and over-used joke to potentially upset one of your friends. Hopefully everyone on your FB friend list is someone you care enough about not to want to make them feel bad.
I’ve seen this circulating too, reposted by people who seem to have a hair trigger for being offended or outraged (based on other things they have previously reposted) The world is full of innocent things that will happen to upset people who are already upset.
My wife and I suffered two very distressing miscarriages. Admittedly, this was many years ago now, but posting that you’re pregnant as a joke is just… lame, not especially offensive.
Reposting a whiny plea telling people not to make a lame joke makes one look like a pathetic busybody.
I agree with Mangetout’s take that some offenderati are simply offensive by their mere existence. Get over yourself already would be my rejoinder to the OP’s Facebook pals’ pleas.
But …
April Fools in general appeals to a pretty base motivation. It’s the kind of childish crap one expects from, well, children. Their common cry is “Neener neener I fooled you!!! Only a moron takes other adults’ words & deeds at face value; sophisticates like me are suspicious of everything.”
Speaking just for myself: Nope; I don’t see the “fun” in being that person or associating with folks like that. Call me a spoilsport, but I don’t want to adopt a defensive attitude to all my dealings with you or anyone else.
Tell me you’re pregnant, getting divorced, or in the hospital or that I won the lottery or … and later recant and laugh just once and you can expect to be on permanent “ignore” thereafter.
Yeah, I’m with those who think that it’s a pretty dumb April Fool’s joke, but that anyone who takes offense to it needs to seriously get their head on straight. Life sucks, folks. Most of the time you don’t get what you want. You can learn to cope or you can join a monastery. You do not get to dictate what other people post on Facebook.