April 01, 2009

The 1st Of April.

The first day in April has been labeled as a Fool's Day. It is a day when family and friends play practical jokes on each other; some are mild and innocent, some can be severe.

I seldom fall for any of it. The only "semi" cruel joke someone played on me was once at work, ages ago. I was around 23 at that time and was employed at a laboratory in Sweden. Young and insecure, I was terrified of making a mistake. The PhD student I was working for at that time, switched around some tubes that I was incubating on a shaker, without my knowledge. My tubes were capped tightly and contained a very precious sample. When incubation was completed after one hour, I was shocked to find the tubes empty and the liquid all leaked out. I remember the disbelieve, as the cap was still tightly on. Logically, it made really no sense that the sample should have leaked. Of course, once you are stressed, all the logic goes out of the window. With a heavy heart I found the PhD student whose sample I lost and explained to her what happened. She was almost on the floor laughing within moments after I finished, shouting "April's Fools Day!!" Although extremely relieved, I was doing my best to hide the complete frustration over such a cruel joke. Well, I guess I had no sense of humour. Although today this makes for a good story and indeed makes me laugh.

In Scandinavia, it is also common that newspapers and news broadcasts on television include strange news clips or articles, but sometimes it is difficult to spot which piece of news is the fake one.
I recall one year in the 80's a report on the Swedish television news regarding a fake currency being in circulation. It was concerning the hundred kronor bills of that time. The design from the beginning of that decade depicted a ship on the back of the banknote. The news anchor informed us that any banknote where the sails were down, was fake. The genuine bill displayed the ship under full sail. I remember how all of us in my family immediately checked our wallets, only to conclude that all the bills in our possession were fake. I even recall the discussion we had about what to do and who to contact, although our concern was not particularly serious.
It was only the day after in school that I discovered that this was a practical joke played on the Swedes by the media. All the genuine banknotes were depicted with the sails down.

Happy 1st April everyone, may you stay safe from practical jokes!

15 comments:

Tom said...

Have you ever heard of the April 1 joke the BBC played on the British public about the spaghetti growers harvesting their crop in Switzerland? It was shown on a serious documentary show more than 50 years ago and is now part of British history. I'll send a link if you can't find it!

Betsy Brock said...

Oh my...I wonder if anyone threw their 'conterfeit' money away!

Yes, stay on your toes today!

steviewren said...

I'm playing a private April Fool's Day joke today on my work. I called in sick...not because I feel bad, but because I woke up feeling great and thought...I'm not wasting all this energy on work, I have stuff to do around the house that I haven't felt like in a long time. I'm staying home to get it done.

(since I have more than 2 weeks sick time accrued and still think I'll be laid off, I'm not using my vacation time which they will have to pay me for. I'm using sick time which I will lose if laid off...call me a bad employee...I don't care right now...I earned those sick days)

A Woman Of No Importance said...

Z, love the post - Especially the Guinness - I'd never seen that before!

We've had one to match the spaghetti grows on trees gag on the BBC - There was an article about a proposed new TV programme, Kittens Got Talent - like Britain's Got Talent - aimed at finding those with diverse and special talents, this time for kitties! I don't think Batcat would have been fooled - Do you?! Take care Z, have a lovely evening... x

Diane said...

I forgot it was April 1st! I'll be prepared when Ryan gets home now :)

Michelle H. said...

I can't remember any media jokes played in the USA. The money one would have had me fooled.

Holly said...

How entertaining!! You are like a book of the most clever little tid-bits of knowledge. The money would have worked on me. I am not quick enough at thinking up the jokes myself. Fun post!!

As for fallling asleep in strange places...I can fall asleep almost anywhere, almost anytime,...yet I have a very hard time falling asleep in my bed at night. What a conundrum!! :)

Rosezilla (Tracie Walker) said...

yes, I enjoy April Fool's day but only for harmless fun. I probably would have thrown my money away or something, I'm pretty gullible!

Keera Ann Fox said...

I love April Fool's because the media keeps trying to trick us here and it's fun to figure out which stories are the unlikely ones. In Bergen today, one paper tried to convince us that the aquarium's crocodiles had to be temporarily homed in the city's public pool. At work, our intranet news told us that we were all getting red Nokia phones to match the company logo. And we even tricked my boss. A good day!

FASHION CHALET said...

I keep forgetting that today is April Fool Day. Hmmm? I need to play some kind of prank but don't know what? lol... thanks for the comment, hope your day is prank-free! =]

xx

Hazel Designs said...

Happy April Fools' Day!

Lulda Casadaga said...

Happy April Fools!
Today in class 2 students decided to pick a fight and I was in on it. I also grabbed one of the students and tried to pry her out of the room..of course this is a big NO NO...anyway, my program manager decided to also get into the act. Well, the other students didn't know what to think when he came in the room getting really serious and stern! :D

The best part is that one returning student (who wanted to leave our class and transfer to the am class) was on the table getting massaged and I can only imagine what went on in her mind!!
She wanted to leave because she was intimidated by the other students!!! LOL

I think she will stick it out, but lord I have such giggling little fools to deal with everyday, lord give me strength...:~)

Zuzana said...

=Tom,
no I have not heard of that joke, but surely sounds like a fun practical joke; one that is so obviously fake - still people will believe anything. Please send me the link once you find it.;))

=Betsy,
that is a good point; I never knew of anyone who did.;)) I think Swedes would more contemplate the fact where to go to get the money exchanged.;))

=steviewren,
good for you! It seem to me you are taking one of my famous "mental health days". You know we all need a share of those.;)
I hope you enjoyed your day off.;)) I hope you never have to get your vacation payed that way and I hope the economical crises will improve son.;))

=Fhina,
no, I think Batcat the scientist, as the Irishman calls him, would not be fooled.;)
It is funny that BBC truly have April Fools day jokes.;))
Hope you had a great 1st of April.;))

=Diane,
I so would have loved to have been in the house when you played a practical joke on Ryan. Better yet, if she played one on you.;)))

=Michelle,
yes, we were all fooled!;) Hope your 1st of April was great, thanks for stopping by.;))

=Holly,
you always leave such kind comments.;))
I agree with you on the sleeping in the bed part; how strange that is. At times I too have really difficult time falling asleep at night, mostly as I start thinking about "stuff".;)

=Rosezilla,
we also all fell for it.;)
Btw, I loved your April Fools joke post, it was really great!;))

=Keera,
that was a truly funny joke; I wonder how many people were horrified by the prospect of crocodiles in the public pools.;)
Glad you had a fun 1st of April.;))

=Beep,
what a nice comment; I am not sure they all hang out here though.;))
Thank you for stopping by and feel free to come back again; hope your 1st of April was nice as well.;))

=Erika,
yes, I think many forget, which is a good thing actually.;)) Hope your day was great as well:;))

=Hazel,
right back at you!;))

=Lulda,
it seems like your day was full of excitement!
How interesting that you are a teacher, that must truly be challenging and rewarding at the same time. I just would not have the patience.;)) Thank you for stopping by.;))

Beep said...

This spaghetti growers joke is very funny. I am glad I saw it here; I have actually been asking ppl to share funny things with me right now but haven't had responses yet. Glad to live in a time and place where late nite blog surfing is possible.

Zuzana said...

=Tom,
thank you so much, I will visit it asap.;))

=Beep,
glad you enjoyed the link.;)
And thank you so much for stopping by.;))