So, OK, it's a lie, but . . .

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I work in a large more or less medically oriented facility, in a very conservative social setting. I have a lot of coworkers of various levels of education, and credulity. I tend to get a bit bored, but I am somewhat easily amused.

So, we have one clinical professional who is . . . well, bland. He is also kind of quiet, and on the small side. About two weeks ago, I told him that I was going to tell everyone that he used to be a Navy Seal. He said no one would believe it. So, I started out. I was subtle, and mostly did it by asking questions about whether folks ever remembered him using navy slang, or talking about foreign countries, or speaking in non English languages. Not more than one comment per person in any one work site.

Oddly enough, I was once trained by the same cadre that taught the US Army Special Forces, (although I was never a member of that unit, and in fact was a very unmilitary draftee.) Because of that I can sling just the right lingo to get the interest of some actual combat veterans. So, I ask them to support my contention that a small man, “Say, someone as small as . . . Oh, Joe” could be effective in combat, if trained well. Since that can certainly be true, they agree.

To make a long story short, (too late!) Just the other day, Joe comes to me and said that two people asked him if he had been in the service. He said that to me very quietly in a room shared by others working not far away. My reply?

I raised a clenched fist, and said “Hoooo Raw!” Joe laughed, and walked out.

So, is it evil? Is it funny? Should I stop?

This is a non binding poll.

Tris

2

Keep piling it on!!!

If they actually start to buy it try getting the rumor started that he paid for his college education by doing porno movies. Though it might work better if you don’t tell him about that.

3

As long as Joe steadfastly denies former SEALdom to anyone who asks, and you just hint rather than actually stating it, it should be okay. But I’d be wary of going any further than that. Given your “conservative social setting” and the fact that some of the people you’re stringing along are actual combat veterans, taking the joke too far could turn ugly.

4

Keep going for it! But keep it subtle. :smiley:

5

Yes it’s evil, triskedawhateverthefuck!!! If “Joe” had wanted this info to be public, he would have probably said it his own damn self! He doesn’t need you to BLAB it all over the damn place! You’re about as subtle as an Atom Bomb!

6

Argh. I had co-workers do just that to me-- in a company with 300+ employees. Worse still, they did it using an actual video which featured an, uh, actor that I did have a passing resemblance to. (Although I think a big part of the joke came from the decidely non-pornstar-like public persona that I cultivate, I’d hate to think that they spread the rumour with sly hints like “a small man, say, someone as small as… oh, Larry… could be effective in porno, if trained well.”)

I think I was probably the last person in the company to see the video in question, after the hundredth person made cryptic references to the “plot” and the actor’s screen-name. (wink-wink-nudge-nudge) The truck drivers weren’t so subtle – they just took to calling me “midget porno star.” Eventually I put it together and looked the damn thing up at the local porn emporium.

I’d feel a lot better about it if it wasn’t such a crap porno. (At least not literally, though.)

7

A colleague of mine made a big thing about being able to play the piano – really well. Miss gullible believed it – well, almost. The story grew. People offered their opinions on both sides. “Oh, no; I say him the other night playing at the local jazz bar. I try to go every time he plays…” Soon she didn’t know who to believe. And it soon turned into a situation that whichever way the truth lay, someone was pulling her leg.

She finally cornered him with a piano and wouldn’t let him leave the room until he had played something. He made a big scene about thumping out some incomprehensible garbage. (Anyone seen the Green Card?) So she was convinced that he couldn’t play.

That was until a whole lot of people laughed at her for being sucked in by such a cheap trick. Photos appeared of him in a tux with a bass player in the background.

The saga has been going for nearly a year now.

8

Every year at Abbott’s Magic Get-Together (a magic convention in Colon, MI) a bunch of friends and myself get together and have a blast. In the past few years, we have taken to starting rumors, including the following:

  • Crop circles were appearing in the fields around Colon.
    This one was fun because we acutally made up a fake newspaper article (looked really authentic too) and dropped copies of it around town. Soon everyone at the convention was talking about it.

  • The Bush twins were going to come to the Friday Evening Show.
    This one was done 3 years ago. Interestingly enough, it not only spread around the convention fast, it actually got mentioned on a local radio show too.

Yes… rumors are fun to start.

9

Originally posted by if6was9

Hmmmm. So you think Joe is gonna sneak up on me in the dead of night, and do some of that SEAL ninja stuff to me?

(If you know “Joe” in real life, this is just hilarious, I promise.)

Tris

10

It’s no different than School-of-Rove Republican campaign strategy, except instead of smearing Joe, you’re edifying him…

So, well, I guess it is different.

Never mind.

Carry on…

11

By demonstrating that he works with a bunch of credulous boobs, plus one bored mischief-maker? :smiley:

12

Yes, it’s evil. Amusing, but evil.

Be careful about taking it too far. Very careful.

I had a co-worker who, with my knowledge (she warned me about it in advance), decided to prank some of our colleagues by spreading the rumors that I had been reprimanded for using my company credit card to hire hookers on a business trip.

She is no longer employed by my firm, despite my best efforts to convince upper management that I was not angry, considered it just good fun, and did not think it all that serious.

Upper managers tend to have their senses of humor surgically removed upon promotion. You have been warned.

Regards,
Shodan

13

I spread the rumor that the man was an elite force veteran in service to the United States! How it that going to harm his career, or the view of managers? I don’t understand how it could harm him, and of course, he knows all about it!

The suggestions about hookers, and porno movies were other people’s idea about funny. I happen to like this guy! Yeah, he is about as exciting as wonder bread and homogenized milk, but he is a nice guy. When I hoo rawed him, he laughed!

I guess different people have different ideas about what is funny.

Tris

14

Because if people don’t know that you started the rumor, it could look as if he was lying about having served. Especially since he knew beforehand that you were going to start the rumor. This could lead to his loss of credibility within the organization and to dismissal.

Or if people believe him when he says you started the rumor, your credibility could be damaged and you could be dismissed.

15

It’s not promotion that has removed the sense of humor, it’s the legal staff. Having an employee spread a rumor that another employee employed hookers could put the company in a very nasty legal position re: defamation and sexual harassment.

If the company took no action because the target of the joke says that it was OK with him, at some later time another employee who was offended by another joke could point to the company’s inaction in the previous case as evidence of their maintaining a “hostile work environment”.

Even if this is a legal stretch, companies find themselves having to maintain a “zero tolerance” posture just to protect themselves.

The question of whether all this has a chilling effect of workplace speech is left for another time.

16

Well, since it has no association with his qualifications for employment, even aside from the fact that you can’t be fired for being the subject of a rumor, it has no bearing whatsoever on his job.

I suppose that I could be . . . well, maybe disciplined for being the source of this rumor, it doesn’t have any association with the job either. So, if they try to fire me, I am absolutely sure that I could beat the rap. The number of rumors that generally circulate in this particular workplace is large enough that I am pretty sure that that eventuality is very unlikely.

As unassuming as “Joe” is, I am also quite confident that he would have let me know if he was uncomfortable about the entire gag. As it is, I think he is enjoying it, although he is not affirming it at all, he does not come out and deny it.

My newest tactic though will be to tell people, “I think Joe would rather we not say anything about it. I’m sorry I brought it up.”

That ought to work.

Tris

17

Well, I was going to suggest that you go around to those who might have taken your hints seriously and, with a very grave and worried look on your face and many glances over your shoulder, suggest that you had made it all up. But it looks like you’re ahead of me on that one. q;}

18

The most official thing would be to reply " I can neither confirm nor deny his military training in the art of war"…