Saturday, June 07, 2008

It's All in Good Fun

For some reason, I was thinking about practical jokes yesterday.

I have both initiated and been the victim of a few in my time.

When I was a supervisor for the Ohio Department of Transportation, I drove around in a pick up and checked on the various crews throughout the day.

A buddy of mine, who was one of the mechanics, pulled a good one on me one day.

I started my truck up one morning, began to drive off, and every time I applied the brakes the frickin’ horn would go off.

The SOB had wired the horn to the brake lights…Clever!!

Another time, a few of the guys got together and filled the cab of my truck with Styrofoam peanuts.

Perhaps the best one, was towards the end of a 22 hour shift during a snowstorm, I fell asleep in the chair in my office…I mean, I was OUT.

When I woke up a half hour later, I found my self duct taped to the chair. Ha. Classic!!

I actually appreciated this stuff because it emphasized the fact that the other two supervisors were pricks, and the guys knew they could still joke around with me.

That’s one of the reasons I never had any problem getting my guys to do their jobs. I was actually nice!!

I have also perpetrated a few in my lifetime, but the following has to be my best work, and I believe it has been replicated by others…

Some years ago, when I still lived in my house, the next door neighbor was working on his car…An older Chevy Impala or something.

The guy who lived across the street was with me as we watched him install a “fuel saving” device on his car.

The owner of the car told us that he was going to get 10-25% more mpg by using this thing. We laughed and scoffed, and he said, “Just you wait and see.”

The next night, I went over and put two gallons of gas in his gas tank. The next morning he went to work.

Then the next night, I went over and put two more gallons in his gas tank. This went on for about a week and a half.

The guy across the street started helping me fill his tank every night during this time.

One day, while shootin’ the shit in my driveway with my accomplice, the car owner came over and said to us…

“Yeah, you guys laughed at me, but I not only got 25% better gas mileage, I went from getting 22 mpg to what I'm guessin' is damn near 60 mpg. I haven’t had to fill up in a over a week!!”

I said, “Well that’s because we have been putting gas in your tank for over a week.” Laughter, well for my accomplice and I, ensued.

The car guy said, “Well, son of a bitch.” and walked away.

Five minutes later he came back with a beer for himself and one for each of us, and said, “Goddamn you bastards; that was a good one.”

Ha…I do so love a good practical joke.

Due to the length of this post, I will be awarding the COW Award tomorrow.

Have a great Saturday all…


Cheers!!

37 comments:

j said...

It's late, go to bed. Wait, it's too hot for sleep there.

2 gallons of gas a night....
times one week......
@ almost four dollars a gallon...

You may not ever see that prank repeated by anyone else. High Gas prices keep your pranks Designer Original.

Be Cool.

Jen

Schmoop said...

Jen: Yeah, that was nearly fifteen years ago, so the joke probably cost a couple of bucks a night.

It may be safe to say that it will no longer be replicated. We have the fans blowin, so all is bearable. Cheers!!

Desert Songbird said...

Heh. I wish someone would slip me some gas in my tank nowadays. I meant petrol in my van, you gutter-minded arse you.

Ick. Your weather sounds horrendous. I canNOT WAIT to get to Cleveland in a few weeks and feel the heat. Huh, I guess 103 with 9% humidity isn't so bad, eh?

Schmoop said...

Songbird: Need a fill up do ya? Well pull up to the pump and I'll fill your tank. ; )~

Yeah, I know you know all about weather here, and we have gotten our thick, summer heat early. Cheers Dear!!

Desert Songbird said...

Good God, man! Either go to sleep or hit the showers! And take Schmoop with you.

Schmoop said...

Songbird: I worked til nine tonight and unfortunately, I am wide awake. It's the cross that I bear. Happens alot on Fridays anymore. Cheers!!

Ken said...

Morning Matt-Man. May a cool morning breeze fill your abode.

Schmoop said...

Micky: Thanks, but it ain't happenin', Mick. Cheers!!

Dana said...

*runs to garage to get duct tape* Are you still asleep Matt??

Schmoop said...

Dana: Nope, I'm wide awake, but if YOU wanna duct tape me down, by all means go ahead. Cheers!!

Schmoop said...

Leighann: Ha. Very Good. Comedic timing is hard enough to do when speaking, let alone when typing, and yet, you pull it off very well. Cheers Leighann!!

Karen said...

I love practical jokes. My friends and I play them on one another all the time. I love getting one over on someone.

Schmoop said...

Karen: I can imagine you do, and I am guessing that you got that trait from your dad. He's a hoot. Cheers!!

Deb said...

I could use that trick done to me: the gas prank! GEEZ what a generous prank! These were great. I love pranks. I used to switch up people's letters on their computers in my office - just a couple to mess them up every once in a while. I even auditioned for "Girls Behaving Badly", because people said I should be working for that show.

It's just plain fun and silly. The breaks lined up with the horn - that's awesome! ha!

Deb said...

P.S. Needless to say, all my friends are "on guard". Now that I video tape every single thing, more pranks are up my sleeve.

Odat said...

LOL...I love pratical jokes. Giving and getting :d
Hub used to get me all the time (in more ways than one, i might add) and I could write a book about the jokes at work. We used to put vasoline on e'one's doorknobs so they couldn't open their doors. I suppose once they did open the door, the vasoline may have come in handy for other used...just thinking.
Stay cool.
Peace

Jeff B said...

Apparently after working with you for a while the first guy just wanted everybody on the road toknow how horny you were.

Schmoop said...

Deb: Girls Behaving Badly, I love it Deb!! Keep up the good work and keep the camera rolling. Cheers!!

Odat: The workplace offers so many opportunities for prankish fun. Have a good one. Cheers!!

Jeff: That was really bad, but I still love you. Cheers!!

Cinnamon Girl said...

You feel free to top off my Toyota any time you want. I paid 4.01 yesterday for gas at the cheap place. Thank god school is out next week. My mileage will drop and I can take the Max trains.

Oh fuck George Bush. Fuck him and his oil friends in the goat ass. Sorry feeling politial this am :P

Schmoop said...

Starr: Don't sugar coat it dear. We got gas this morning. Compared to you, we got a great deal. It was only $3.98. ; )

Join me for a drink and let's revel in the fact that Dubya only has 227 days left in office. Cheers Starr!!

Ken said...

Should I feel bad for paying ONLY
$3.74 a gallon! [[[ONLY $3.74]]]
When we moved here it was to our relief, gas was ONLY $1.98

AMERCA WHAT HAVE WE DONE HIDING BEHIND THIS BUSH?

This is one shitty practical joke the very rich are playing on us!

Schmoop said...

Micky: Maybe if the U.S. Dollar wasn't in the crapper from borrowing from the damn Chinese to fund our Bushitization of Iraq, we would be paying a little less. Cheers, Mick!!

Lex Valentine said...

You're in a good mood today! The shower sex musta gone well. ;)

Jay said...

One time when I was supervising at a manufacturing everyone in my dept. got together and "hid" my toolbox up on the shelves with other materials. It was one of those tall heavy duty toolboxes and they put it up there with a forklift.

So, that night after they all went home I duct taped their small individual toolboxes closed. It took them 20 minutes each the next day to get the tape off. LOL

Good times, man. Good times.

Jay said...

BTW, we all got laid off at the same time too. Weird, huh?

Schmoop said...

Winter: The shower sex is tonight. I must be in a good mood in anticipation. Cheers!!

Jay: Ha. I am sure it was just a "coincidence". Cheers Jay!!

Unknown said...

Wow, he may have pulled a joke on you too, getting free gas, which these days would be damn great! Want to come pull that prank for us?

My best prank was at ALT this year, we filled the Scoutmaster's tent with 100 balloons before bedtime, he couldn't even get into his tent. as he pulled each one out, they were given precious names that all started with Fu$#, imagine that. The best part he actually believed my group was too goody good to do such a thing so he was blaming the other patrols for hours.
yes, the Sassy Mama has attitude ;)

desert rat said...

Great story, you bastard! That WAS a good one!

Dianne said...

I love the truck cab full of peanuts!! those suckers stick to everything!!

I suck at practical jokes. I immediately look guilty and start acting goofy. When I was a kid I looked guilty even when I hadn't done anything.

It's a cross I bear.

Try to stay cool matt-man!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I'm gonna have to show this to my friend. I'm sure he'd love to do one o' those to his best friend.

Not the gas one though, we're all poor young adults. xD

Travis Cody said...

I've never been any good at practical jokes. That one with the gas was good.

Kimmie said...

Great job at getting your neighbor! He sure was a good sport about it though. I think the truck filled with peanuts is hysterical! I use them alot when packing stuff and they are always sticking to me.

The only real practical joke I ever played was putting that little birthday confetti in my sister's card. She opened it and the shit flew out everywhere. She didn't look to happy, but I was rolling! I am not to good at thinking the good stuff up. ;-)
Hugs,
Kimmie

Anonymous said...

Mmm. I like your practical jokes, they're always so original. I'll have to remember the duct tape one though and pull that one on a friend who sleeps in his truck :p

I'm sure it's hot over there in Ohio, but at least you havn't got tornado sirens going off around you!

Schmoop said...

Sassy: It was years ago. Gas wasn't that expensive back then. Cheers!!

Desert: Ha. It was indeed quite amusing. Cheers Rat!!

Dianne: That strikes me as odd about you. Anyway, thanks for the tip, but it is HOT in this place. Cheers!!

Schmoop said...

Motley: Duct Tape is always a crowd pleaser!! Cheers!!

Travis: It was a thing of beauty. Cheers!!

Kimmie: Confetti in a card is always a good one. Cheers!!

Nickie: No, no sirens, but we did have them going off last week. We got pounded a couple of nights. Cheers!

Liz Hill said...

It's funny--I was going to do practical jokes on the show this week

katherine. said...

I love pulling off a good practical joke...but usually I don't take credit...its pretty fun when the recipient doesn't know who did it...