50 Hilariously Embarrassing Airport Pickup Signs That Cracked Up The Entire Arrivals Terminal (New Pics)

Way back when technology wasn’t advanced enough to allow for instant messaging anywhere, anytime, folks used to resort to more conventional, pen and paper versions of communicating information in public spaces.

In an official setting, these were generally used by chauffeurs and shuttle drivers to make sure the right people find their way to the right modes of transport. While that is still the case today, shuttle services, for instance, streamlined the process by simply providing maps and signs that lead folks to designated areas.

As for family members and friends, that’s a bit of a different story.

Friends and family members are, by nature, more mischievous and hence more prone to pushing signs to their full potential. That is, to have some laughs at the expense of the person arriving. Hence, this listicle.

Speaking of which, the signs vary from wild to crazy to just a downright good one. Baby announcements, cheating declarations, “dad is useless” signs, welcome home from prison gags, surprise colonoscopy affairs—you name it, people have done it.

Signs aren’t the only way to welcome someone home, though. Besides them, there are more romantic approaches, like meeting your partner at the airport with an engagement ring in hand or organizing a surprise (luxury) shuttle.

There’s also the option of keeping it more simple and simply greeting your friends or family with gifts: flowers, sweets or other edibles that hit close to home, gift shop surprises, heck, tickets for another flight or anything else really are also great gestures to welcome someone home (just make sure the tickets are not the same day—they do be wanting their beauty sleep).

When it comes to flowers, Billy Heromans has an entire guide on flowers for greeting loved ones at the airport. What you want to say depends on the type of flower that you pick up (e.g. pink carnations represent a mother’s undying love, while yellow roses symbolize joy and friendship) and even the color (e.g. red’s for love and romance, pink is for happiness, peach is for friendship and caring, you get the gist). So, pick up some flowers, arrive early, and dress for the occasion for maximum effect.

Psychologist Dr Ronnie Siddique, trained in psychodynamic, interpersonal, and cognitive behavioral therapy, as well as mindfulness and meditation, mentioned in a blog post of hers that practical jokes among people are a subtle form of play-fighting. These imply a sense of closeness or an insider group feeling in relationships. Considering this, such pranks are often pulled on folks the pranksters believe are close to them and know they can handle a joke.

Humor and laughter in general releases endorphins and oxytocin—chemicals associated with happiness and social bonding. So, yes, it’s good for us. And by proxy, making someone else laugh because of your prank is good for them too.

But a prank is good in so far as it has a positive outcome. Positive pranking entails a number of things, including making sure that the prank is harmless—one that makes the pranked person laugh too—all the while keeping yourself available for being pranked too. It’s all about play, not taking things seriously, and being able to laugh at yourself too.