Reminiscing on one of the most time-consuming prank I've participated in.
For a colleague's last day in the office, it made sense for us to pull a prank bidding her a fond farewell. We didn't realize that we should've started preparations sooner than the night before her last day.
Pranks Were a Part of Our Office Culture
My previous office colleagues and I often pulled pranks on one another in the workplace. We were respectful of one another belongings, didn't do something that impeded a colleague's ability to perform their job, and kept it transparent to customers.
Because of these rules we followed, our Directors and Assistant Directors were alright with us pulling pranks periodically. After all, it boosted employee morale and built a strong workplace relationship.
Because pranks were commonplace when I started working there, we initially pulled pranks on a colleague's last day in the office.
A colleague accepted a full-time teaching position with another department on campus. Her last day was on a Friday. We thought it'd be fun and easy to plastic wrap everything she was leaving behind (i.e., peripherals, chair, desk, phone, etc.) and fill the space with balloons on Thursday night.
Preparations the Day and Night Before
A few colleagues spent their lunch breaks buying supplies for the prank we planned. Balloons, air pumps, rolls of plastic wrap, and a greeting card were all we needed to setup that evening.
After she left work, which was always five minutes before the workday ended, we gathered around a consultation seating area in the back to begin inflating the balloons. We had three pumps and over a hundred balloons. We also had a couple rolls of plastic wrap.
We somehow knew what needed to be done without much communication. Some colleagues, including myself, began inflating balloons with the pumps. Some inflated balloons the old-fashioned way with their mouths. Others took the pump inflated balloons and tied knots at the end. The rest wrapped the contents of the empty office with plastic wrap.
It was a great example of exceptional teamwork and poor planning!
We thought we'd only stay at the office for a few hours after work but underestimated how long it took to inflate the large balloons that were purchased. It took several minutes to inflate a single balloon with a pump.
A few of those who volunteered to tie a knot at the end of balloons would struggle and accidentally deflate a few balloons in the process. This, of course, required us to re-inflate some balloons twice.
The plastic wrapping was relatively quick and easy. When our colleagues finished wrapping, they helped inflate balloons the old-fashioned way.
To our surprise, the old-fashioned way proved to be a little quicker than using a pump. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for my colleagues to feel lightheaded from it.
After just a couple hours, many of my colleagues, including myself, left. Many had families and other priorities that had to care for. I had to take care of Shadow who needed a potty walk and dinner.
I returned to the office later that night to continue inflating balloons. At this point, there were less than a handful of us there.
We finally filled all the balloons only to discover we didn't have enough to fill a third of the office. We were defeated and tired. We called it a night but returned to the office early the next morning to finish the prank.
The Morning of "Prank Day"
A colleague arrived before the rest of us to ask custodial to not clean the one office that day. She taped newspaper over the glass door and windows to hide what we did on the inside.
Many of us arrived not long after to sign the greeting card and do a few more things to finalize the prank. I brought a couple action cameras to record her reaction when she opened the door to see the balloons.
One of my colleague's came up with the brilliant idea to make a couple of walls with the left-over plastic wrap. This allowed us to pile the balloons within a smaller space that gave the illusion of it being grander than it was. It also allowed us to open and close the door with ease.
All that was left to do was wait for her arrival.
Her Reaction to the Balloon Office Prank
My office was next to hers. I stood on my desk and looked out the window to see when she turned the corner down that hallway. As soon as I saw her, I started recording video.
She stopped and saw her door and windows covered with newspaper. She said she was scared to enter her office. When she finally gained the courage to open the doors, she dropped everything and started crying.
She couldn't believe we took the time outside of work to setup a fun and colorful prank for her last day. She felt loved and knew she would've been missed.
It took her about an hour to remove all the plastic wrap. I'd hear her let out a curse every now and then because we hid all the scissors and box knives in the office.
Bonus Office Prank Idea
The newspaper placed on her door and windows gave us an idea for an office prank for our Assistant Director's last day before retirement. This time we prepared well in advance of our Assistant Director's last day.
I volunteered to make walls of newspaper sheets with tape since I was single with no kids to care for and had a lot of free time on my hands.
I regretted this volunteer work! It took me days to make several walls of newspaper!
The morning of the Assistant Director's last day, several of us arrived early to hang the walls in the office. A few colleagues wrapped everything being left behind (i.e., peripherals, chair, desk, phone, etc.) with left-over newspaper sheets.
I didn't do much that morning since I spent so much time making the walls. I was teased for being lazy, but I had fun pretending to supervise their manual labor.
Our Assistant Director also cried when she saw how much time we spent outside of work to setup a weird newspaper prank for her last day.
My Thoughts
We didn't do any other last day pranks that I recall, but we continued random pranks during my employment with the department. We had a great group that had fun when we could.
I've been fortunate to have worked for two different departments that embraced light-hearted pranks. I have many more office pranks I'll one day share with you.
What's Next?
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Thanks, and have a great day!
Simply Jelly Jam
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