It’s Only a Laugh isn’t it?

In light of the sad news of the nurse who took the prank call from the Australian DJs ending her own life, I started thinking about the whole prank culture.

I don’t know all the facts of this story in particular, but from what I can gather, she was a busy but fabulous nurse who was living away from her beloved husband and 2 children. 

I guess you never know how close to the edge someone might be before you play a trick on them.

All my life I’ve been utterly gullible. I still remember my first April fool’s day at high school. I had no idea what I was in for and, when i think about it, I can still feel that yucky sicky claustrophobic feeling in my belly. Ugh.

I know I’m being a wet blanket but, really, making someone feel like a piece of crap is not my idea of fun. These days there are so many ways to ‘prank’ someone, and it seems to be part of our culture. People are expected to take it on the chin; anyone who doesn’t is seen as a sore loser. I suppose it depends on the trick. As we have all learnt from this poor nurse, when you play a trick on someone, you just never know how it will end, and I suppose thats the gamble. I almost feel bad for the DJs, they are putting up with a lot of flak, but if someone went to a casino and lost their life savings, it would be their own fault, and I think if you run that risk, you have to live with the consequences. It just sucks that their mistake is so very public and so very tragic.
Trying not to be so bloody high and mighty, I tried to think of ways in which the boys and I prank each other or enjoy other people's pranks. We, as a family, we love watching ‘You’ve Been Framed’ and we all laugh aloud when the people fall over, in some cases they obviously really hurt themselves. I myself fall over a fair amount and it always leaves me in uncontrollable stitches, but I don’t know how I’d feel if those falls were entirely someone else’s fault. As it stands, it’s just me being clumsy, but if someone played a trick on me and I got really hurt and think I’d be hopping mad.

The boys and I play peek-a-boo constantly, and sometimes it’s hilarious. I’ve made Ed jump so far out of his skin he fell over and cried (nothing a cuddle can’t fix). And sometimes he hides in clothing racks in shops so he can jump out on me as i pass by (I always know where he is, the fool). But we have just one rule; we never play it at the top of the stairs! Can you imagine that trip to A&E...