There is a study, somewhere, that proves pranksters are soaking in serotonin.

Personally, I feel it is a collaborate activity that is more fun when other discrete, willing parties are enlisted to “support” the prank.

The most elaborate prank I did was in the early eighties with co-workers. It was more than an office whisper that one of the VP’s was a dirty, little ol’ man. He had slipped his hotel key into the hands of females at sales’ shows. The most recent incident was at the annual Christmas party where he either said something or did something to the Controllers’ wife. The Controller (a very nice man) was my boss’ boss in my first management job. I was working full time and finishing up my bachelor’s degree at night.

I did not attend said-Christmas party. People knew the head of Human Resources (which was then called Personnel) would be a useless advocate for the people. A few of us (the Maintenance man, the Controller, and my manager) conspired to play a prank on this tea biscuit-sized perv. Each week, the Maintenance man would take perv’s company car to get it detailed, gassed up, etc. I had a customized license plate holder made to say: “Convicted Sex Offender”. It cost $10 and 50% of it was funded by the Controller. The Maintenance man was sworn to secrecy and he returned the original license plate holder with the dealer’s name to me.

We (the collective accounting management team) could all see where perv parked from our office windows. We would start out our staff meetings laughing, especially when we saw perv walking into the office. Sometimes he would even wave at us.

Months went by and we had already forgotten about our prank. We had heard (through the grapevine) that perv’s wife discovered the license plate switcheroo on Halloween. The children would stop at their driveway and turn around instead of ringing the door bell. She said to perv, “There’s something in the driveway that’s scaring away the trick or treaters.” She thought it might be a dead animal or bird. She went out to inspect the driveway and (finally) saw the license plate holder. She was so angry she ripped the words off the plates with her perfectly manicured red acrylic nails.

Apparently, perv thought it was pretty funny. A few months later, I tendered my notice for a better opportunity. My next job required fewer hours, less responsibility, and an opportunity to learn IT in a bigger company. The job would provide more flexibility to finish up my degree.

On my last day, Perv’s administrative assistant said Perv wanted to do my exit interview. When he closed the door to his office, I was on high-alert. He was laying the groundwork for a counter-offer. While flattering, I had already made a commitment to my new employer and I was looking forward to the opportunity. Perv tried to push me onto the little couch as I thanked him and he was walking me out of the door. I screamed. He was grinning and laughing as I escaped. Before leaving the office, I was shook up but not intimidated. I stuck the original license plate holder to perv’s company car in an interoffice envelope as a way of letting me know: “Yeah, it was me.”

Two weeks after the pushing-onto-the-couch incident happened, I got enough nerve to report it to the head of HR. She looked shock but because I was no longer an employee, it gave her an “out” to ignore it. So much for upholding the office and girl code.

Years later I learned perv died of a brutal form of cancer. Sorry he suffered. Others also suffered. To what extent they were harassed, I will never know. I learned of his death from his admin. She left shortly after I did because she grew intolerant that her job required a type of silence that infected her insides.

The more recent and milder prank targeted Car Guy. He likes to keep his car free of dangling things on the rear view mirror and stickers. My daughter and I found a bright yellow sign that said “Honk if you Scrapbook” and used suction cups to adhere it to the rear windshield. It was placed so he couldn’t even see it from his rear view mirror. Because he washes his car weekly, he found it quickly. He laughed and wondered why people were honking at him.