# I Hate April Fool's Day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 29, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970 "2007-03-29T13:58:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/1 "2007-03-29T13:58:32Z")
Here it comes again. What will it be this year? Dick Cheny’s sex change? Prince Charles killed in an auto accident? There is always something. Each 1 April some idiot in the English–speaking world starts something on the internets and it gets picked up by people in the Non Angled Saxophone universe as the truth. I have to explain that we somehow think it is OK to lie on the first day of the forth month. No way to stop it. I really, really hate April Fool’s Day. Maybe I’ll call in sick. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/2 "2007-03-29T14:17:55Z")
The radio station I listen to does an April Fool’s scam every year. It’s always so obvious that I can’t believe they bother anymore. It’s cute until you’re about 10 years old. Then it’s just…annoying. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/3 "2007-03-29T14:28:37Z")
I get a fucking year older… and that is no joke 🙂 At least these days the jokes start on April 1st. I remember magazines telling outrageous stories in their April edition, but since it was delivered at the end of February/early March the joke was usually misunderstood. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/4 "2007-03-29T14:39:23Z")
Trust me, you don’t hate April Fool’s Day nearly so much as I do.\* It’s my birthday. This will be my 40th year of dealing with friends and family who _think_ they’re clever. But aren’t. Really, really aren’t. Every year someone is _shocked_ that I _somehow anticipated_ that someone might try to play some asinine “joke” on my birthday. Although there’re fewer each year. I have “friends” who are _still_ on mailing lists for weird fetish porn, just because they didn’t learn their lesson and tried to prank me. Jackholes. - exception noted for other birthday sufferers. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/5 "2007-03-29T14:43:04Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] I have to explain that we somehow think it is OK to lie on the first day of the forth month. No way to stop it. I really, really hate April Fool’s Day. Maybe I’ll call in sick. [/QUOTE] Why are you responsible for explaining this? Is it part of your job description? Just say, “It’s a joke.” Or better still, ignore it. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/6 "2007-03-29T14:58:50Z")
I am the local Explainer of Strange Western Ways. Part of the job. The whole Monica and the cigar thing was no fun to patomine. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/7 "2007-03-29T15:38:05Z")
It’s my birthday, too! I kinda like the jokes, as I almost always see them coming and can sometimes turn the table on the would-be prankster; and if not, then hey, I enjoy a good joke as much as the next guy with a “I sleep with a teddy bear” sticker plastered on his back all day. I’ll be 41… does that mean I can officially yell at kids to get off my lawn? If so, I have to get a lawn ASAP. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/8 "2007-03-29T15:42:47Z")
As fellow April Firsters **Lightray** , **Astroboy14** did you suffer the same April Fools jokes from your parents as I did growing up. My Dad took pleasure in saying, “Hey, all your friends are here [early] for your birthday party!” I would run to the window, and he would cry, “April Fools!” 🙂 I don’t mind the jokes, but I have a juvenile bent to my sense of humor. I will be 36 this year, so that makes me the baby in this thread, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/9 "2007-03-29T15:51:42Z")
So why is April 1st all fools day? I mean what fool started it? ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/10 "2007-03-29T15:56:39Z")
[QUOTE=Lightray] Although there’re fewer each year. I have “friends” who are _still_ on mailing lists for weird fetish porn, just because they didn’t learn their lesson and tried to prank me. Jackholes. [/QUOTE] The best one of those I ever did was when a friend signed me up for a “pig farmer” magazine because I moved to a semi-rural area. I responded by filling out the reader’s service card with a fictitious company at his home address and circled EVERY number on it. He was getting samples of pig food in his mail box for years! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/11 "2007-03-29T15:57:41Z")
Not just an idiot on the intarwebs - there’s a fine tradition of this in the UK media. Right back into the 1960s when the venerable BBC documentary series _Panorama_ did a fanstastically believable documentary on the plight of spaghetti farmers in Italy. The foremost political commentary radio show, _Today_, and most of our national daily newspapers including _The Times_, _The Telegraph_ and _The Guardian_ try to slip at least one thing past their listeners/readers. I think it’s great, and always a laugh to try to work out what is a joke, and what is just reality being bizarre as usual. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/12 "2007-03-29T16:06:21Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Not just an idiot on the intarwebs - there’s a fine tradition of this in the UK media. Right back into the 1960s when the venerable BBC documentary series _Panorama_ did a fanstastically believable documentary on the plight of spaghetti farmers in Italy. The foremost political commentary radio show, _Today_, and most of our national daily newspapers including _The Times_, _The Telegraph_ and _The Guardian_ try to slip at least one thing past their listeners/readers. I think it’s great, and always a laugh to try to work out what is a joke, and what is just reality being bizarre as usual. [/QUOTE] Didn’t they also do one about the black pudding plantations of Bury, Lancs. suffering a serious blight of the crops. Or am I thinking of the Haggis hunter being attacked by a giant haggis ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/13 "2007-03-29T16:15:06Z")
Does this mean the Onion will print only true articles on the first? Anyway, stop whining, it still can’t be as bad as having a birthday right next to Xmas. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/14 "2007-03-29T16:19:28Z")
[QUOTE=FordPrefect] As fellow April Firsters **Lightray** , **Astroboy14** did you suffer the same April Fools jokes from your parents as I did growing up. [/QUOTE] Not me. My parents were actually pretty cool. It was always the friends and siblings who thought it was a laugh riot to try to put something over on me, as if I wouldn’t be especially on my guard on that day. Please! :rolleyes: On the other hand, by this point in my life I’m pretty good at spotting pranks coming, as I’ve seen all of the common ones. A few years ago, someone showed my wife that trick where you trace around a quarter a few times with a pencil and then tell your mark some BS story to get them to run the quarter down their face, thus depositing a nice thick graphite line that they won’t notice until the next time they look in a mirror. She had to try it out on me! C’mon, was I born yesterday? I played along with her story that it was a Korean traditional way to garner good luck, but when it came time to run the quarter across my face, I said, “But honey, I have YOU! I need no more luck… I want you to have the luck!” and proceeded to chase her around the house for about 15 mins. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/15 "2007-03-29T19:30:10Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Not just an idiot on the intarwebs - there’s a fine tradition of this in the UK media. Right back into the 1960s when the venerable BBC documentary series _Panorama_ did a fanstastically believable documentary on the plight of spaghetti farmers in Italy. [/QUOTE] [Here’s the link](http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/70000/video/_70980_aprilfool_vi.ram) (albeit low-res RealPlayer). It’s pretty funny. I love well-executed April Fool’s Day jokes, and hate unimaginative ones. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/16 "2007-03-29T19:35:34Z")
**Paul** : maybe you can take some comfort in this hoist-by-own-petard story. Marshall M. Murdock, founding publisher of _The Wichita Eagle_ was quite fond of doing an annual April Fool’s story. One year he made the mistake of having his editor write the April Fool’s story. Yup. Marsh read the story and believed it. I got married on an April First. That should tell you something about _my_ sense of humor. . . . ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/17 "2007-03-29T19:43:03Z")
April Fool’s Day is nothing. I have the next 2.5 weeks to sweat out the fact that I WILL be pranked at some undetermined time. Its a tradition in my band for the freshmen to prank each of the officers (12 total) between the start of spring term (yesterday) and the campus open house (the 14th). And I’m an officer. All I can do is wait… and hope it doesn’t suck or make me want to kill the little rats. ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/18 "2007-03-29T19:49:23Z")
[QUOTE=BJMoose] I got married on an April First. That should tell you something about _my_ sense of humor. . . . [/QUOTE] Me, too. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/19 "2007-03-29T19:49:58Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] Here it comes again. What will it be this year? Dick Cheny’s sex change? Prince Charles killed in an auto accident? [/QUOTE] [UFO crash in Somalia?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=414288) ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970/20 "2007-03-29T19:59:18Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] Anyway, stop whining, it still can’t be as bad as having a birthday right next to Xmas. [/QUOTE] Not so. I’d much prefer having had my birthday on Christmas. At least then, people are _un_intentionally being jerks by double-presenting. On April Fool’s Day, they’re _purposefully_ being jerks. [QUOTE=Astroboy14] Not me. My parents were actually pretty cool. It was always the friends and siblings who thought it was a laugh riot to try to put something over on me, as if I wouldn’t be especially on my guard on that day. Please! :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] There’s the problem. I love a good prank. A prank when someone is expecting pranks? is _not_ a good prank. Play a prank on me any other time of the year, and I’ll laugh if it’s clever, and be just as clever in my response. But on this day, I take it upon myself to cull the stupid from amongst pranksters. As a kid my parents didn’t try birthday pranks, but when I turned 30, my mom wrapped thirty presents – individual rolls of toilet paper, socks (each of a pair, wrapped separately), a Snickers bar, toothpaste. She was offended when I stopped unwrapping after the tenth or so ha-ha-clever “present”. But that was the worst, and no repeat since, so they’re pretty good. And my brother knows better. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-april-fools-day/397970.md?page=2)