Everyone who knows me knows that I love practical jokes (especially if I am the one who is the mastermind of the joke) and when I get a joke or prank in mind, I have been known to take it to the extreme (but in a good way). One prank that comes to mind, which is one of my all time favorite pranks, involves the annual pumpkin carving contest that we have at my place of employment. The first year that this particular contest was introduced, three co-workers of mine and I decided to participate and compete.
Well, I am a very competitive person and it just so happens that there is this one woman (we will call her River) who is just as competitive as I am and always seems to be pitted against me in these types of activities. So when the two of us get together, we have the tendency to embark in braggadocio regarding who is better in the activity in question. So, as you can imagine River had a squad of pumpkin carvers and I had mine. Now what makes this story funnier is the fact that I happened to be teamed with three of the most laid back people on the face of the planet and even though time was steadily ticking by, we had yet to meet or discuss what our entry was going to be. Yet, every time I ran into River, I continued to tell her how great our carving was going to be and how much I was going to enjoy watching them take second place behind my team. Well of course River gave as good as she got and she insisted that she and her team had the winning carving.
One day, when my team had finally met to discuss what we were going to create, I had the brilliant idea of hatching a little practical joke and shared it with my team mates, who were immediately on board. I decided to ask a friend of mine (who we will call Carl) to “mistakenly” contact River and play the part of an irate businessman who was waiting on his money for a service that he provided to my team. In the course of the phone call, Carl was to let slip that he was a professional pumpkin carver and that he was ready to ship our pumpkin to us but had yet to receive the money from our team to complete the transaction. Needless to say, Carl delivered all of this and more in his phone conversation with River. In fact, he deserved an Academy Award for his performance.
Meanwhile back at the restaurant, our team knew that this prank was happening while we were all conveniently at lunch and we were just awaiting the phone call from Carl to say that he had completed the task. When Carl finally called and told us that the deed was done we then made sure to walk into River’s lair. We were not disappointed!
We were met with a group of screaming team members who shouted at us that we were unethical for hiring professionals for a local contest. Of course, my teammates and I played the role of innocents and continually asked “What are you talking about?” After about ten minutes of this, I finally stated something like, “Where in the rules did it state that we could not hire a professional?” It took every ounce of my being to remain in that moment and not guffaw at the culpability of my co-workers who actually thought that we paid money for a professional pumpkin carving. Really co-workers? Seriously? I do not know about you all, but I have better things to do with my money.
Of course this did not stop us from milking this particular prank for three days. I would constantly go by River’s office (even though our offices were no where near each other) to taunt her about how her pumpkin was going to lose and she would always retort, “At least we didn’t need to hire somebody to carve our pumpkin.” I would accuse her of being jealous that she didn’t think of it and go back to my office. Oh how good life was for those couple of days!
Finally, the day arrived and it was time to unveil our carving. So what did my team submit? We submitted a pumpkin-carved wedding cake complete with a pumpkin-carved groom. Needless to say, the thought was original, but the carving was terrible! I looked toward the table at what River and her team created and they had created the carriage from Cinderella and it was beautiful! Clearly, much time and effort were spent honing it and ensuring that it was just right. When River and her team looked at our carving, one of her teammates replied, “Y’all spent money on that?” It was at that point (after I could catch my breath from laughing so hard) that I had to tell them that it was all a joke and that we did not pay a person to carve our pumpkin. The looks on their faces is one that I will never forget.
I love it when one creates a practical joke and the recipient of the joke finally realizes that they have been had. I must admit that this was one of the best.
So which team won the pumpkin carving contest? Neither. In the end the winner of the competition was a team that had created a hamburger and used the pumpkin shell and seeds to create the bun. So while River and I were battling each other, another team came through and took the crown. Oh well! That’s how the game goes at times. Goodbye until next time dear reader and remember to always look for the funny!
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