There is honestly nothing wrong with a good prank. But that is exactly it—it has to be good. And good means harmless, properly paced and not obnoxious or annoying, considering the person it's pranking. Above all else, it has to be fun for everyone, including the person pranked. And if it’s not, go say sorry and never do it again.
Or otherwise you might get the horns. Whether the employee’s or the boss’. Whatever the case, taking it too far will have consequences, so don’t take it that far, or get ready to face the horrors of corporate etiquette.
More Info: Reddit
Pranks are fine if they're done right, but sometimes they take it to an extreme where it all ends in tears
Image credits: disterics (not the actual photo)
A Redditor recently vented her frustration with an office prankster who just couldn't stop pranking her
Image credits: Treacherous_Wendy
Image credits: Kyle Adams (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Treacherous_Wendy
It didn't take long for the internet to tell the employee what the right thing to do is—and that's to report that SOB to the higher-ups
Image credits: Chris Harrison (not the actual photo)
So, Reddit user u/Treacherous_Wendy recently turned to the r/AntiWork community to vent a bit. In essence, it was a story of how an “office prankster” was taking things a tad bit too far—like from the zone of harmless fun to the zone of being a straight-up jerk.
And it’s not just the brevity of the pranks, but their relentlessness too. OP recalls times when her computer’s language was changed to Russian or Sanskrit, how the prankster messes with her chair all the time (to a degree where it was broken once), how he keeps touching her personal speaker and how her phone is constantly forwarded to unknown people. “The ONLY person who finds this funny is the prankster,” added OP.
One day OP simply broke down and started crying. She felt like it was 6th grade all over again, when folks were bullying her for her looks, calling her Wendy the Whale. All she ever wanted was to just work in peace, but she has had to endure all these pranks for 6 months at this point.
Image credits: Matthew Dillon (not the actual photo)
Originally, the post ended with thanks for allowing OP to vent, but once all the comments piled in about taking action, OP did just that and provided an update. In it, she explained that she spoke to the boss, saying that the pranking needs to stop. And it did. So did the prankster’s jovial attitude.
Though folks online said she was right to do what she did, it still left a bitter taste in her mouth. Whatever the case, people were on OP’s side, saying she shouldn’t feel bad for outing a person who was actively harassing her. And this is besides the prankster literally hindering her work. Who would want to work in such an environment, let alone with a broken chair and on a computer that they can’t even understand?
Others shared their own stories of pranks that went too far. And in some of those cases they wished they had done something about it. There was yet another person who jokingly (but I also hope not really jokingly) offered to prank the guy back for all his pranking on OP.
The post got quite a bit of support in upvotes too, amounting to over 33,000 with an 88% positivity rating, and a number of Reddit awards. You can check out the post in context here. And you’re also more than welcome to step up and give an encouraging word to OP in the comment section below. Or maybe even share a prank or two that went too far in your office?
Folks online were all kinds of supportive, ranging from advice to straight-up offering to bully the bully back
