I once worked with a guy who elevated office mischief to an art form - tasteless art, perhaps, but boldly creative.
One of his favorite pranks was to send anonymous text messages to team members on holidays. (This was in the era when we sent business alerts via pager; the sender's identity didn't appear in the text.)
"Urgent problem!" read the message. "Please call Mr Bear at your earliest convenience!" The words were followed by a telephone number. Call the number, and you reach the information hotline for the local zoo.
One time, my boss received one of these zoo pages. His first assumption was that *I* sent it - to this day, I don't know how or why he would have thought that.
I received a call from the boss bright and early Monday morning asking me why I was sending him mischievous text messages. It wasn't until I showed him my pager and explained that I, too, had received a message from Mr Bear that he let me off of the hook.
(Thanks a lot, Jokester! You almost got me fired!)
A slightly more devilish prank was deployed when co-workers left their computers unlocked, e.g. while going out to lunch or visiting the restroom. Mr. Joker would sit at their desk and compose an embarrassing email addressed to their boss. He would then leave the mouse positioned over the "Send" button.
If the person clicked the mouse or pressed the 'Enter' key when they returned, off would go the email ... followed by a humiliating apology.
The Jokester savored his exploits gleefully. The rest of us were astonished by the kinds of things that he would try to get away with. Eventually, some of the jokes caught up with him.
Our organization maintained a spreadsheet to keep track of vacation days. Whenever Mr. Prankster wanted to add an extra day to his annual allotment, he would erase one of the vacation days that he had taken earlier in the year. Eventually, his boss figured out what he was going and gave the guy a stern reprimand.
The Joker also enjoyed slipping out early on Friday afternoons - sometimes very early - but he didn't want to be seen leaving the office by himself. He would try to convince someone to leave with him. That way, it would look as though he were just going along with what others happened to be doing.
One day, the prankster and a colleague walked out of the office with jackets on and briefcases in hand at 2:30 in the afternoon. Their mutual boss ran into them as he stepped off of the elevator. Let's just say that none of them had a good weekend. I felt particularly bad for the accomplice.
In addition to his many pranks, which included hiding keys and personal objects that were left on desks, the Jokester was also known for his outrageous and outspoken antics.
He would criticize co-workers loudly if they didn't share his political views. He often played tawdry comedy clips on his computer at full volume, laughing along with glee and encouraging others to join in. (The Jokester was a big fan of then President George W. Bush. He adored Will Ferrell's Saturday Night Live impressions of Bush and replayed them often.)
One time, when we had to work over night on a big deployment, the Jokester tuned the office television to a soft porn channel. He watched it for about an hour while the rest of us worked and retired sleepily to his hotel room.
My most outrageous recollection of the Jokester, however, occurred one day when he wasn't even trying to be funny. We were having a conference call with a vendor to discuss a problem that we were experiencing with some software that they had developed.
Mr. Jokester asked whether a particular lady still worked for the vendor's firm. They confirmed that she did. Jokey asked if they would have her join the call. He had worked with the lady before and felt that she had the skills to resolve the current issue.
A few minutes later, the woman joined the call. He said, "Hey! This is so and so! We worked together a few years ago."
The lady didn't seem to remember him, so he doubled down on his claim that they knew each other by making a remark about the kind of underwear that she preferred.
The conference call ended abruptly.
Mr. Jokester asked whether a particular lady still worked for the vendor's firm. They confirmed that she did. Jokey asked if they would have her join the call. He had worked with the lady before and felt that she had the skills to resolve the current issue.
A few minutes later, the woman joined the call. He said, "Hey! This is so and so! We worked together a few years ago."
The lady didn't seem to remember him, so he doubled down on his claim that they knew each other by making a remark about the kind of underwear that she preferred.
The conference call ended abruptly.
