I love to pull pranks. I used to get in trouble at girls' camp for pulling pranks. One year, we stole one of the canoes and hid it so we could go canoing on the little lake at night (I now realize that wasn't a very safe or good idea). Our leaders found the canoe and put it back in our tent and then we had to take it back to the canoe dock--we never did get to go canoing in the moonlight.
Girls' camp was prime time for pranks from tipping tents, to stealing bras, to making scary "bear" noises outside the younger girls' tents, I was always involved in pranks somehow.
Back in the day, I used to TP houses all the time. That was one of our staple activities growing up--we'd go TPing. And everyone's house was game. I did my fair share of cleaning up TP at my own house as well.
In college, we once filled up a trash can with ice from the cafeteria, hopped on an elevator in the boys' dorm (big no-no) and then when one of the boys answered the door we dumped the entire trashcan of ice on him. He wasn't pleased. We also moved our dorm mother's car up to the front door of the dorm and we decorated the trees outside the boys' dorms with tampons.
My sophomore year at BYU, we had a prank feud with our FHE brothers (one of whom is quite a famous LDS historical fiction author). They snuck into our apartment and dyed everything green for St. Patrick's day--our milk, the toilet bowls, everything they could get their hands on. I seem to remember the inner stuffing of a bean bag being used that year as well.
I love a good prank. But, I don't like ones that are destructive such as the one our seniors pulled this weekend at the high school. They snuck into the school and filled the entire freshman hall with hay. They then doused it with paint so it would be harder to clean up. Because of the amount of hay, the air quality inside the school was too poor for the kids to attend. My son has an adverse reaction to hay and can succumb to asthma very quickly and very dangerously. The added paint also added fumes to the building. The school had to cancel all classes for the day to spend it cleaning up after this senior prank. What does that mean? All of us taxpayers will have to pay the clean-up costs which includes all new air filters, washing walls, disposing of all the hay and making sure that kids with asthma can safely attend tomorrow. (Hay isn't cheap and it's a shame so much was wasted in an area where drought makes it difficult to grow enough hay).
I'm sure the kids didn't think about the damage their prank would do or the consequences. That's one of the problems with being a teenager--the inability to see past today. And all the kids are happy to have an extra day off school. But, pranks that are destructive aren't funny. I hope those involved will think through their next prank.
As for me, I've retired from TPing (can't make myself waste all that TP) but beware if you ever go to girls' camp with me :).
4 comments:
That's too bad about the hay. Sometimes kids just don't know when to stop! I loved reading about your youthful antics. Funny,
Unfortunately when you get a bunch of kids together ego takes over and the need to impress without any thought to the consequences.
Ann
Your pranks were funny. I remember when we'd go TP'ing before it was a crime. It was so easy to clean too - unless it rained.
Sorry about the hay incident. I gave a lesson one time to the YW on how the frontal lobe is not fully developed until around age 19-20 so really, they are not thinking with full capacity yet we let them drive and make college deisions, etc.
It was funny but very true. They never think about the after to their decisions - sounds like what happened at your school.
Have a good day,
Laura
I don't think the kids involved in the prank meant it to be destructive, but it is what it is. We have to pay a lot of money for the repairs and somehow that lost school time has to be made up.
I believe teens aren't thinking with their full capacity yet! and that's a scary thought!
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