Reminiscing on a prank that celebrated every major holiday.
One week when I was away from the office, my colleagues made it possible for me to enjoy every holiday in my small, confined oasis in the workplace.
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. It boosted employee morale and built a strong workplace relationship.
One week during the spring season while I was out of the office, my colleagues decided I couldn't get enough of all major holidays. They collaborated with several customers (faculty) to setup this bizarre prank on me.
A Festive Office
I went into work on a Monday after a week away for professional development training. As I turned the corner at the end of the hallway, I first noticed the windows to my office and office door weren't bare.
Since pranks were common in the workplace, especially pranks done to me, my initial thought was, 'What did they do now?' My colleagues were very creative and desperately wanted to get revenge since I often pulled small, daily pranks on them.
As I approached the door, I was greeted by several drawings, signs, banners, string lights, and other window decals. The largest decal was that of Santa Claus with a tiny handlebar mustache over my office door.
Opening my office door opened my eyes to the outrageous number of holiday decorations and my ears to the loud sounds of holiday inflatables.
At least one of my colleagues asked faculty (our regular customers) for help with this prank. Faculty members lent their holiday decorations, including large inflatables to be added to my room for a few days.
In fact, those faculty members showed up during the day to take photographs of me working in my festive office. It was hilariously awkward. My office and I got a lot of attention that day. It was great for showing faculty how well my colleagues and I worked together and building stronger connections. However, it was also very uncomfortable for a shy introvert like me to receive so much attention.
Despite my discomfort with the attention I received, I was amazed by my colleague’s creativity and execution with the prank. I mean, wow! They got me good, and they received my respects.
There were so many decorations in my office. Inflatables, wall decals, banners, flags, ribbons, calendars, and more filled my office. Unfortunately, I don't have the photo I took of my desktop, but I can assure you there were many more items covering my workspace.
My colleagues even hid and taped a Bluetooth speaker that played Christmas music behind my desk. Because I'm short, it wasn't easy to reach the speaker to remove it and turn off the music. I eventually had to bribe our resident tech person to take care of it for me.
Over time, I found more holiday decorations my colleagues hid behind my desk, under my desk, behind my bookcase, and other areas no normal human being would think to look for random holiday decorations.
They covered most of the major US holidays and more in my office. I wrote down all the holidays I recognized when I removed the decorations over time, but I wouldn't be surprised if I missed noting a few holidays.
Below are some of the holidays represented in the various decorations that filled my office:
New Year's Eve
Black History Month
Groundhog's Day
President's Day
Chinese New Year
Valentine's Day
Texas Independence Day
St. Patrick's Day
Easter
Arbor Day
Cinco de Mayo
Mother's Day
Pride Month
Father's Day
Independence Day (4th of July)
Yom Kippur
Halloween
Election Day
Thanksgiving Day
Hanukkah
Christmas
Kwanzaa
My Thoughts
Unlike The Cat-tastrophe at Work, this prank was not ongoing. However, this was a large-scale prank I'd never soon forget.
Our camaraderie at the workplace was remarkable. Our relationship with our customers, faculty at the university I worked at, was so trustworthy that some faculty willingly donated to the prank. Again, I say, wow!
What's Next?
I have more office pranks I'll share with you one day, but I'll need to see if I can find photographs of each. Worst case, I'll share my wordy experiences with stock imagery.
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Thanks, and have a great day!
Simply Jelly Jam
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