April Fools!

As a kid, April 1st was one of my favorite days. I could never think of anything very original, but it was April Fools! This was the day to prank people, to pull one on a sibling or my mom. Of course the phrase that somehow makes otherwise inappropriate antics OK is "April Fools!" It's like one big "just kidding." And what other day could you tell a completely fallacious lie and get away with it? If you think about it, some of the best jokes are simply lies followed by a "just kidding!" Even the jokes that don't have the phrase "just kidding" follow this same idea; basically a lie or falsehood, and then the punch line.  e.g. "My parents were vegan...until I ate them!" If the joke works, listeners are only deceived temporarily.  

As a child people often accused me of being gullible. (I use the word 'accused' because it makes the allegations sound possibly false, but the truth is I tended to be gullible.) "Hey! Christopher, there's gullible written on the ceiling." As I look up to the ceiling without hesitation (and without time for my brain to process what my ears just took in), I hear laughing. "Haha! You're gullible!" I stammer, "Uhh...I was just looking up there anyway, for the heck of it. Who would write gullible on the ceiling?" My last ditch efforts to save face rarely worked. 

As an adult the jokes people pull are more convincing. "Yeah, I'm related to Larry Mullen Jr.," a co-worker might say. Well if this Caucasian from the Midwest was talking about Bob Marley, I'd be suspicious, but Larry Mullen Jr., the Irish guy, the drummer and founder of U2? It's possible. I'm likely to believe her. "Oh come on! You honestly think I'd be working here if I was related to a rock star?!" she might say, as though anyone with a wealthy third cousin would never have to deliver pizza.

I would say our world is so overcome with cynicism (sometimes masquerading as discernment) and so devoid of childlike faith that people have to laugh at those who are trusting, but it's not quite that bad. Sometimes you can't take yourself so seriously. Pranks and April Fools jokes are great, but there is always some sort or power struggle. There is a winner, and a loser. If the joker can convince his victim, he wins. If the victim doesn't buy the lie and get duped by the joke, he wins. In this later case, however, no one laughs, and the person telling the joke feels bad. If the joke or prank succeeds it can be hilarious, and the victim doesn't have to be the loser - if he can laugh at himself.

What if in lieu of "just kidding, April Fools!" we said "Haha! This guy is a trusting person!" or "This lady has a lack of discernment! She was duped. Hilarious!" Somehow that just spoils the whole thing.