Damnit. I miss the fun of April Fools’ Day. Those days are apparently gone forever and I miss them.
It certainly seems like it was a more innocent time, because while some would get offended, they were usually in the minority. Certianly compared to those who got a good joke and recognized a good leg pull for what it was and not some violation of personal space.
I recall being fooled and doing some fooling of my own. I recall entire websites publishing April Fools’ Day issues. (I worked for one that did.) And I recall the warnings to not take things too seriously. But these days the fun has been stripped from that way of thinking. That kind of fun left the room long before the painful moments we face very day, many of which seem like a joke because they seem so unreal. Yet, real they are.
I guess the negative reactions started to take over when the Internet, home of more copycats than original copy, made the proliferation of pranks available to all including those who would do so for malicious reasons. Call it Internet gluttony. That joke is always on us, because while humans do enjoy a good laugh, we also seem to enjoy overdoing just about anything to the point of pointlessness.
Some say you lose your taste for the kind of hijinx April Fools’ Day would bring as you get older. I’ve certainly gotten older, my tastes in most things have certainly matured. But damnit, I haven’t lost that longing for a good prank.
And that’s no joke.
You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.
Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3 