Re: Diary of a Piggyback Prankster

From: Hiram Gonash <okfreddy_at_hotmail.com_at_hypermail.org>
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 16:31:09 -0000

Piggyback Prankster...let's hear yuh squeal!

--- In OliveStarlightOrchestra_at_yahoogroups.com, "tschibasch"
<tschibasch_at_y...> wrote:
> I have been named a "piggyback prankster" by someone at my work. I
> like it. This is not the first time that I have played a harmless
> prank while on the job. Nor is it the first time that other people
> found out about it and shared in the amusement. However, it is the
> first time that I have received an honorific title. Here is the story...
>
> There are two guys, Sean and Paul, who are trying to get their weight
> down. I will not use their last names. Several weeks ago, they decided
> to make a weight loss bet. One of them brought in a scale and they
> both weighed themselves. They watched each other getting weighed and
> wrote the numbers on a whiteboard. There was an agreement that they
> would weigh themselves on the same day every month and see who is
> losing the most weight. Fair enough.
>
> Just two days later, the entire office had a huge celebration with a
> large cake. This happens a lot at my current job. Both Sean and Paul
> attended the cake-cutting and watched each other take small pieces.
> You could see how they would have liked more, but neither was going to
> have any unless the other did. The leftover cake, which was
> substantial, was put in the fridge.
>
> Later that afternoon, Sean came by Paul's office and told him that
> someone had been looking for him in the conference room. I heard this
> quite by chance as my office is next door to Paul's. I thought nothing
> of it. I saw both Sean and Paul walk away down the hall going separate
> ways. Sean quickly returned later. Some minutes still after that, Paul
> returned muttering that the conference room had been empty. To his
> shock, Paul found a large plate of cake waiting for him at his desk.
> "That bastard!" Paul yelled, in shock and humor. He then peeked into
> my office and asked "Did you see what Sean did? He deliberately got me
> out of my office so he could plant a piece of cake here! Did you see?"
> I told Paul, truthfully, that I had hardly noticed. A little later I
> got up for some coffee and saw Paul. "What happened to the piece of
> cake?" I asked him. Paul shook his head in disappointment. "I ate it.
> I couldn't help it – it was so good!"
>
> The next morning I arrived at my desk and happened to notice that Paul
> had not yet arrived. I decided that maybe he needed another piece of
> cake. After all, it would start the morning off well. So I cut a nice
> big piece of cake, put it on a plate, and planted it on Paul's desk.
> He came in about 10 minutes later. I instantly heard a loud "Arghh!"
> and I ran over to see what was wrong. Paul looked up, exclaiming "That
> bastard has done it again! Did you see Sean come by my office this
> morning?" I paused for a moment before answering. "No, I did not see
> Sean. But I only got in a few minutes ago myself. And you know, once I
> am immersed in my work, anybody could come by, and..." During this
> time, Paul was staring at the cake. It seemed to be calling to him. He
> then said, either to the cake or to me "I hate to see this go to
> waste." I left Paul and the cake alone in his office.
>
> Lunchtime was another opportunity to put a piece of cake on Paul's
> desk. I figured that wherever he had gone for lunch, it was likely
> that he had not ordered dessert. So this cake would not hurt! And it
> would be a good way to begin the afternoon. I then left for lunch
> myself. When I returned, I saw Paul sitting at his desk. He looked a
> little bothered. The cake was nowhere to be seen.
>
> The next morning, Paul got in much earlier than I did. It might have
> just been due to differing traffic patterns. Or, it might have been to
> not having a lock on his office door. But my fortunes were still
> excellent: Shortly after 10 the fire alarm sounded. Not a surprise -
> We were warned of an unannounced drill earlier in the month. We all
> had to leave our desks and descend by the stairwell. In this
> semi-orderly confusion I managed to visit the kitchen and get a big
> piece of cake on a plate for Paul. It would be waiting on his desk
> after the fire drill was over. Just the thing to celebrate a
> successful fire drill, if you ask me!
>
> I leisurely returned to my desk after the drill was over. Paul's
> office was empty, and the cake was not there. He obviously had gotten
> back to his desk already.
>
> At this point, it seemed like a good time to visit Sean. Sitting in
> his office, he cheerfully welcomed me in. After some small talk, I
> mentioned how impressed I was with his `clever trick' to lure Paul out
> of his office and leave some cake behind for him. Our conversation
> went something like this:
>
> Sean: "A clever trick? Yeah, I guess so. There again, maybe not so
> clever! Paul's crazy - he stopped by earlier today and told me to stop
> leaving cake for him."
>
> Me: "Stop doing it? How many times have you done it?"
>
> Sean: "ONCE! Just that one time! But Paul told me that whenever he
> leaves his office, there is always a new piece of cake for him when he
> returns. That guy's paranoid!"
>
> Me: "Yeah, sounds like it!"
>
> Sean: "Morning, noon, and night he claims to be getting cake at his
> desk. Which, I might add, he has always eaten! He can't throw it away!"
>
> Me: "He says that he's been getting cake three times a day? It hasn't
> been that often. In fact he's only gotten cake four times. Only once
> or twice a day."
>
> Sean: "WHAT? How on Earth do you know that?"
>
> Me: "Well, you see, I put cake on his desk three times. And you did it
> once. That makes four. Now unless someone else is also doing it, I
> think we can safely assume that he has gotten cake only four times."
>
> Sean sat in silence, and looked completely perplexed. He was not
> angry, but confused. Why I would do such a thing? I was happy to tell
> him! I explained that this was easy, since my office was next door to
> Paul's. Also, it was something that I would not get the blame for.
> After all, both Paul and Sean knew who the guilty party was in the
> beginning! But what Sean thought was a once-only prank, Paul now
> thought was continuing forever. I was also blameless in that I had no
> interest in tampering with their weight loss bet! As Sean patiently
> listened, a big smile crept over his face. It now made total sense to
> him. "You know what you are?" he asked. Without waiting for my
> response, he answered "You are a piggyback prankster. You play a prank
> when you know that someone else will get blamed for it!!"
>
> I agreed with him. We both laughed at my new title. I then impressed
> upon Sean that even after confessing to him, I could very well
> continue to leave cake on Paul's desk. I mean, why not? So what if
> Sean knows the identity of the real culprit? There was another victim
> in this: Paul. He was still blaming Sean, and as it turns out, he was
> getting less amused with the whole thing each passing day. I assured
> Sean that most likely, I would probably stop this prank. The chances
> of leaving more cake for Paul were really rather small. And there is
> no more leftover cake in the fridge anyway. Or is there?
>
> Sean was not completely satisfied with my reassuring comments,
> apparently. The next day he told Paul that I had been the guilty party
> leaving cake on Paul's desk. Paul responded with "It was John Turley?
> What possible motive would he have? This is ridiculous. Just because
> his office is near mine, you want to blame him!" As Sean tried to
> explain further, Paul would not let him finish. Paul felt that if Sean
> were admitting to the first prank, why would he blame the others on
> someone else? Especially someone who had no investment in it! Sean
> should come clean and admit to the whole thing!
>
> Sean told me later about this conversation with Paul. It's true – I
> was blameless, if only because it didn't make sense. "You're right
> what you told me." Sean said. "I am screwed. If you leave more cake
> for Paul, I will get the blame." I then told him not to worry, that it
> all was over. I never did it again.
>
> This leads to an interesting point. If someone overheard the last
> conversation between Sean and me, they could start leaving cake on
> Paul's desk. Paul would be all the more upset with Sean. And Sean
> would be upset with me. I would of course protest my innocence! But
> would Sean believe me? Of course not! He was now aware of my tendency
> to play pranks. I would be screwed, and no better off than Sean. I am
> glad to report that this didn't happen.
>
>
> John AKA the piggyback prankster
Received on 2005-08-11 09:31:17