Best pranks

[CPhT]

So Ruff being on the receiving end of lasix in his soda is funny?

Coming from someone who has to urinate a lot on shift, not really. That one isn't all that funny. The IDEA of it is funny, but the actual practice is cruel, because it puts someone in danger. Again, kind of the same way watching Wile E Coyote use a complex Rube Goldberg-esque machine to try and catch the Roadrunner is still entertaining to me, but I wouldn't want to see anyone in real life get an anvil dropped on their head.

It's a far cry from "a rabbi, priest and imam walk into a bar...", which is telling a joke, to "go piss in a cup and leave it on the chief's desk". Those are two completely different circumstances. So you'll forgive my confusion when you equate the two to being one in the same.

So, based on what you said and how I read it, you're taking advantage of someone's ignorance and using that to put them in an awkward, even potentially humiliating, position for the enjoyment of you and your coworkers under the guise of "teambuilding". Am I still misunderstanding you?

Again, there is a huge difference between telling someone to pee in a cup and leave it on the desk, then to actually let them go through with it. It's not so much exploiting their ignorance as much as it is taking advantage of the natural human instinct to be skeptical. Some people catch on right away, others are so sparky in their new job that they practically have the cup in their hand before they say "Are you sure I need to do this?". My point is that if we have a prank, we would NEVER let the person go to the point where they are actually risking their safety or their job.

A GREAT example of a prank that I just watched was some FFs tied a $50 bill to a string and set it on the floor, as it was one of their birthdays, when he bent down to pick it up, they yanked the string. Completely harmless, and yet still funny to watch.

[Richard B the EMT]

Someone tried that bill on a string trick, and videotaped it. Their victim realized what was happening, stepped on the bill to hold it in place, swept around it with his finger until he found the thread, broke the thread, and walked off with the $10.00 bill.

[Happiness]

here is a harmless one. get a cookie sheet and fill with enough water to float toothpicks. Put the cookie sheet on the floor, then you place a toothpick at eithe end and tell the two chumps to lay down. You tell them the point of the game is to see who can get the the toothpick to the other side the fastes. You then as you are counting to 3, on you slam you hand down in the middle of the pan and splash the chumps get wet. Yes I was a chump and laughed, then i did it on a few others. Great for kids parties.

[HERBIE1]

here is a harmless one. get a cookie sheet and fill with enough water to float toothpicks. Put the cookie sheet on the floor, then you place a toothpick at eithe end and tell the two chumps to lay down. You tell them the point of the game is to see who can get the the toothpick to the other side the fastes. You then as you are counting to 3, on you slam you hand down in the middle of the pan and splash the chumps get wet. Yes I was a chump and laughed, then i did it on a few others. Great for kids parties.

HARMLESS??? Happiness- how COULD you?

How cruel and insensitive can you be?? Those toothpicks are potential foreign bodies in the eye, potential choking hazards, lawsuits waiting to happen...

(Sorry just yanking your chain-trying to being as ridiculous as some folks here have been in this thread. Not easy to do...)

[joesph]

how about a old manikin arm in the chiefs turnout sleeve. He still hasnt caught me for that.

[mobey]

I am a huge fan of the "Watch this light on the grill and tell me if it quits flashing". Then jump inside and turn the flasher on, then quickly hit the siren.

Gets them every time.

[dstevens58]

Used to be, someone from the aviation unit would send someone (male) over to the medical clinic for a pap smear. Young kid, never knew the difference. I felt sorry for one kid, made believe I made a note in a medical record and told him to tell his partners everything was okay.

Another time, they sent someone over for A.S.H. receivers (ash tray) and 50' of flight line.

[Richard B the EMT]

I am a huge fan of the "Watch this light on the grill and tell me if it quits flashing". Then jump inside and turn the flasher on, then quickly hit the siren.

Gets them every time.

A small child, perhaps. The story goes, the child who was asked to see if the turn signal worked, responded, "Yes...no...yes...no..."

But as to having the siren blast someone at close range, file that one under HELL NO!

Doing a routine "state speck" (the daily New York State "Part 800" compliance inspection checkout) of an ambulance, I was standing on the door sill of the ambulance, verifying the light bar was working (it was), when my partner hit the siren, as part of the check. My ears were less than 4 feet from the speaker of a 200 watt siren system, and sound is painful at 118 decibels (I'm fudging the figure a bit, as I don't really recall the number), but due to me not being prepared to be blasted, the siren actually knocked me off the doorway, and I was saying, "could you repeat that" most of the day.

Big difference is, my partner did it without malice. What you describe was with evil intent. A siren at that proximity to the human ear has been known to cause deafness.

I also, in disclosure, mention that as a 5 year old, my grandmother took me to see FDNY Engine 268 and Ladder 137. The Fire Fighter put me up into 268's cab, driver's position, where I promptly found the air horn button, used it, and was promptly removed from the cab.

[mobey]

A small child, perhaps. The story goes, the child who was asked to see if the turn signal worked, responded, "Yes...no...yes...no..."

But as to having the siren blast someone at close range, file that one under HELL NO!

Doing a routine "state speck" (the daily New York State "Part 800" compliance inspection checkout) of an ambulance, I was standing on the door sill of the ambulance, verifying the light bar was working (it was), when my partner hit the siren, as part of the check. My ears were less than 4 feet from the speaker of a 200 watt siren system, and sound is painful at 118 decibels (I'm fudging the figure a bit, as I don't really recall the number), but due to me not being prepared to be blasted, the siren actually knocked me off the doorway, and I was saying, "could you repeat that" most of the day.

Big difference is, my partner did it without malice. What you describe was with evil intent. A siren at that proximity to the human ear has been known to cause deafness.

I also, in disclosure, mention that as a 5 year old, my grandmother took me to see FDNY Engine 268 and Ladder 137. The Fire Fighter put me up into 268's cab, driver's position, where I promptly found the air horn button, used it, and was promptly removed from the cab.

Naa, I am talking about standing out in front looking at a light, not that close of proximity that a small blurp from the siren will do auditory damage. I am goofing, not abusing.

[runswithneedles]

My mother had a run where a doc that she consistently had problems with at the ER who constantly was calling her service to complain about her (every time a BS reason that resulted no action being taken every time. )Well on this particular run she got the feeling that she was going to be called in by that pesky doc. So she purchased one of those stuffed monkey's that could be carried on her back and when she was called in (like clockwork) she put it on her back and walked into the supervisors office.

Edited March 19, 2012 by runswithneedles