Do you know someone who seemingly will go to any extreme to get off a good practical joke?  There is nothing malicious about it, nothing threatening but rather just his idea of having fun but at the expense of the ‘victim’ in the scenario.  In many instances, this takes very careful detailed planning for it to be carried out  as a complete surprise, often times with the help of willing, supporting actors.  Here is an example of one of his masterpieces.
It was a thriving local business with a small staff of veteran workers who knew each other extremely well having known each other since school days.
All were competent in their business positions but naturally their personalities were markedly different.  There was the owner, a non nonsense business man who was ‘in charge’ but willing to accept some levity on occasion.  Along with him were members of the sales staff one of whom would be thought of as a no-nonsense kind of person, one who followed the letter of the law explicitly and because of her adherence to the literal was the one who usually was the object of a joke.  But she was good natured and seemingly took no offense when her fellow workers took advantage of her always-follow-the-rules demeanor.  And then there was a staff member who while loyal to the company, was always willing to stray out of bounds for a good joke, harmless of course from his point of view.
The business had a window to display its merchandise and to make it somewhat realistic there was a most life-like manikin that was at times called upon to give the store scene an eye catching element.  ‘She’ had many roles and the at times the object of many in- house jokes.  One of her unique features was her removable head which more than once surprised an innocent shopper who happened to open a drawer only to find an unlikely head greeting him.  It always brought laughter, but the staff members accepted ‘her’ as an overplayed joke, that is until great minds brought together an exquisite plan to use the manikin for the ultimate hoax.  The complexity of the scam took much time and detailed planning for it to be pulled off successfully.
The store was customarily closed at the end of the business day by the long time trusted employee who along with her ‘friend’ checked the premises, turned off the lights and locked the doors.
But this night, her friend casually mentioned to her that he thought he had heard a strange noise in the back of the store and questioned if perhaps there was someone left in the business.  Always cautious, the two investigated but found nothing so they left the building to go home. Once outside, her friend called to his co-worker’s attention that there was a ‘strange’ car parked just outside the building and again suggested to her if she were really sure no one was locked inside the building.  She explained again that this had been thoroughly checked and dismissed his statement but with some nagging doubt.
The two arrived for the store opening the next day and discovered that the ‘strange’ car was still parked in its same place which caused him to wonder again out loud if a customer had indeed spent the night locked inside.  Now his friend was really concerned.  Little did she know this was part of his devious plan.
After entering the building, taking care of the routine order of business and not finding anyone who had slept in for the night, the staff member excused herself saying that she was going to the rest room for a cigarette before opening the store.
The rest room was in the back of the store and in a rather dark area so when she entered, her eyes were not accustomed to the diminished light. When she did turn on the light, she had the surprise of her life.
The first thing that she saw was this ‘person’ sitting on the commode staring at her.  In her shock she did not take any time to further investigate the scene so she ran out, dodging the washing machines, to yell to her fellow worker/friend the news that the person he had thought had been locked in the business for the night was indeed still there. . .
…sitting serenely and staring at her like a dummy when she opened the rest room door.
Mission accomplished.
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Bill Lee, PO Box 128,
Hamer, SC 29547