# Need April Fools workplace gag (that won't get me sent to HR) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 26, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025 "2015-03-26T14:14:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/41 "2015-03-27T00:35:09Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Maybe something about mandatory cover sheets? How about a memo requesting that all printer software be set NOT to suppress the last blank page? \ … furthers our corporate initiative toward becoming a paper-only office. thanks for contributing your blank pages ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/42 "2015-03-27T00:37:08Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > At work, only do something that the victim will probably find funny once they find out it’s a prank. > > Something like this. It wouldn’t cause any major aggravation and would actually be funny. But I would recommend to actually have brownies somewhere. On the back of the brown “E”'s write something like “look in the bottom drawer of the mail cabinet.” Good advice. A practical joke should be just as entertaining for the victim as the perpetrator, and should not place any burden on the victim to undo your bullshit. Anything that does not meet both those criteria should not be done. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/43 "2015-03-27T00:37:15Z")
Better yet… tell as many people as you can, privately and individually, that you have a really, really great prank set up for April Fool’s. Then do… nothing. It helps if you spend all day Doing Suspicious Things. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/44 "2015-03-27T01:54:57Z")
> [@Turpentine](#): > > Don’t let anyone at work know how much of a fun-hating killjoy you are. You guys are the ones who are likely at the top of the list as targets. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Don’t let any of your bosses know what a time-wasting tool you are, or you might be at the top of the list when layoff time comes around. To all thread participants, if you feel the need to comment to or about someone who disagrees with your stance on office pranks, please do so without name-calling or other insults. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/45 "2015-03-27T03:23:06Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Good advice. A practical joke should be just as entertaining for the victim as the perpetrator, and should not place any burden on the victim to undo your bullshit. Anything that does not meet both those criteria should not be done. Unless, of course, you have access to Health Department stationary and print out a gonorrhea notification alert and send it to some dude. Cause that’s transcendental. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/46 "2015-03-27T13:32:37Z")
You could send an e-mail based on [this](https://xkcd.com/237/) ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/47 "2015-03-27T13:53:45Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Maybe something about mandatory cover sheets? And TPS reports? ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/48 "2015-03-27T14:27:31Z")
We have a small local newspaper that does an April Fools issue every year. One year they had a headline saying that a bridge was going to be built across Lake George. This Lake is highly protected, and people were freaking out. They seem to forget every year when April 1st comes around. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/49 "2015-03-27T16:02:37Z")
I once pulled a most excellent prank on one of my bosses: A long time ago, in the days of the original Macintosh, I was able to map different sounds to all of the keys on the keyboard. In those days, no one locked their computer, and this particular one was shared, so it was easy. I chose a different farm animal for each key. The victim was still able to type, but it sounded like a zoo/barnyard when they did. The sound was interspersed with various NSFW exclamations from the victim, while we were rolling with laughter outside the office. Looks like this could still be accomplished with some freeware today, but you would still need access to the computer to pull it off. ---
**Author:** ![Chetumal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@Chetumal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chetumal)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/50 "2015-03-27T17:29:49Z")
Playing any kind of jokes or pranks in the workplace is incredibly risky and foolish. Your behavior on April Fool’s Day might seem like a harmless funny prank, but just pause and think about how that behavior might be written up by HR or anyone in the office with a current (or future) grudge against you. The “joke” can be re-characterized as harassment, poor judgment or even mental instability on your part and end up as a negative item on your permanent employment record with that company. Not worth the risk, and not everyone appreciates jokes or even realizes it’s April Fool’s Day on the 1st. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/51 "2015-03-27T17:45:38Z")
Bake “Slithy Tove’s Special Brownies” and label them as such for the break table. Make damn sure they are not special. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/52 "2015-03-27T18:10:41Z")
If you get the opportunity, change the MS Word auto correct settings on the office jerk’s computer to change **public** to **pubic**. ---
**Author:** ![Chetumal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@Chetumal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chetumal)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/53 "2015-03-27T18:14:34Z")
> [@Spiff](#): > > If you get the opportunity, change the MS Word auto correct settings on the office jerk’s computer to change **public** to **pubic**. And promptly get fired for sexual harassment. Too funny, ha ha.:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/54 "2015-03-31T20:42:57Z")
> [@Spiff](#): > > If you get the opportunity, change the MS Word auto correct settings on the office jerk’s computer to change **public** to **pubic**. We were once asked to set “pubic” to autocorrect to “public”, after someone had one too many typos. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/55 "2015-03-31T22:10:23Z")
Typos. Sure… 😃 I’m partial to the [Annoy-a-tron](https://www.thinkgeek.com/product/f3a5/). Drove one of my co-workers in the IT section crazy until I 'fessed up. I hid it near one of their repair stations and he couldn’t figure out why the monitor was beeping. He got a laugh out of it and no harm was done. You have to know your audience. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025/56 "2015-04-01T12:52:47Z")
Take a picture of somebody’s mouse and mouse pad. Print it out, put his mouse & pad behind the monitor, put the printout where the mousepad went. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-april-fools-workplace-gag-that-wont-get-me-sent-to-hr/716025.md?page=2)