Pranks don't just make you laugh-- they also make you think...

The letters have been pouring about my pranks and so I figured I'd explain-- these pranks aren't "ha ha funny" like what you might read about on the Saturday Night Live Pranks Blog.* They are meant to make you stop and question your assumptions about the world.

I will illustrate this with two pranks from last weekend. Some of my readers may have heard about this one already:

The Setup: Jen and I walk into the Coach store on fancy Madison Avenue. Jen informs the sales help at the front (there were three of them) that she was looking to purchase the pages for the Coach Planner. The planner is some sort of leather binder that has pages for the days of the year on which you can write down important appointments and such. It being the second month of the new year, she thought this a reasonable time to purchase the sheets for the next year. Her mother had been unable to purchase them in her home town which is somewhere far away and so Jen agreed to go to the fancy New York store to help her mother out. Basically she was obeying one of the ten commandments: Honor thy father and thy mother. Let's see what happened when she tried...

So when she tried, she was told that they were sold out at the store, but what was more, they were sold out online as well. That's just crazy because you are supposed to be able to buy just about anything online!

Now, keep in mind, the product in question is not some kind of special edition hand-made leather purse. It is sheets of paper to put into a planner. The woman informed us that people buy them earlier and earlier this year-- they release the refill sheets in August and they sell out in a few months and for some reason, they don't make others even though it is just a product that can be printed out.

Jen said, "So what you're saying is that my planner** is useless now."

The woman apologized but I could sense that Jen needed a pick me up, so I decided to play a little prank. Here's what went down.

Me (confidently): Well, that's okay-- y'know where we can get a planner? At Duane Reade*** around the corner, for about FIVE DOLLARS.
fin

One worker chuckled, because he understood my social comment about charging a lot of money for something that can be obtained for less money. The other looked like she was about to cry. Or at least to me she did.

**Special BONUS Prank**
Jen pulled this prank. Truth be told, it's still in the works. But I'll let you in on the plan:

Jen (indignant): I am going to write a strongly worded letter to their corporate headquarters.
fin

I'm not sure which prank is better-- mine has the value of immediacy but I think hers might ultimately be a little more subtle and clever.

Until next time...



*I just made that blog up but you know what I mean
** I believe that Jen did not feel it was worth explaining to these people that she was actually helping out her mother.
***This is a drug store chain in New York City.