For years, the grif net has offered lousy jokes, lame puns, and=
low-quality humor on the first weekday of every month. But today is also A=
pril Fools Day, so we deviate slightly from our already undefined (and unde=
cipherable) course. April Fool PRANKS and then a short history course=
on why we have this annual event on the calendar anyway.=
PRANKS FOR FAMILY
>Try placing bubble wrap under the carpe=
t or mats.
=
>Put “House for Sale” in front yard when=
kids return from school.
>Replace vanilla fr=
osting with sour cream.
>Put whoopee cushions und=
er your couch pillows.
>Add googly eyes on household plants, toaster, mirrors.
>Replacing=
family photos with your favorite pop stars.
>Remove batteries . . . everywhere. TV =
Remotes. Garage openers. Clocks.
>Unroll toilet paper and leave a funny message in marker =
“You’re going to wash your hands, right?”
>Bake up mini meatloaves =
in muffin cups with colorful wrappers, then “frost” them with c=
reamy mashed potatoes.
>Stuff toes of shoes with cotton balls to make them no longer fit bi=
g feet.
=
>Remove the cream from an Oreo and=
replace it with white toothpaste.
>After long day (and pranks forgo=
tten) send kids to bed. BUT replace the pillow inside the case with balloon=
s for them to lay their weary heads.
=
=
HISTORY OF APRIL FOOLS DAY
In the Middle Ages, New Ye=
ars was celebrated with a week-long feast from March 25th and cu=
lminating on April 1st (New Year’s Day). The decision was =
made at the Council of Trent that this was to be replaced with January 1st as New Year’s Day in the middle of the already widely cele=
brated 12 days of Christmas.
The French King Charles IX instituted the switch in=
1564. The problem was that 16th century communications were not=
what they are today. Of course, given the state of the current Twittering =
world, that may have been a good thing. Word of the calendar change took se=
veral months, even years, to make its way around Europe and beyond. Not sur=
prisingly, there were those who resisted the change, and instead preferred =
to maintain the status quo, which included celebrating New Years Day on Apr=
il 1st.
Those who refused to honor January 1 as the beginning of th=
e New Year and instead continued to use the April 1 demarcation became know=
n as “April Fools” for their obstinacy and resistance to change=
=2E Those poor fools, excuse the pun, who refused the new calendar were sen=
t off on ridiculous errands and were made the butt of practical jokes, like=
sticking signs on their backs that said, “Kick Me.” It reminde=
d me of my good old elementary school days.
Because it took so long for the new=
calendar to be accepted, the practice of nonsense on April 1st became an a=
nnual event. The silliness gradually found its way to both the British and =
French colonies in America. Apparently traditions, whether good or bad, die=
hard. With that in mind, you just might want to check your chair today bef=
ore you sit down.
~~
Dr Bob Griffin
[email protected] www.grif.net
"Jesus Kn=
ows Me, This I Love!"