Clearly The Fish Needed Some Excitement

Coworkers can make your job fun.  The other members of my office in the early nineties were fond of playing practical jokes, but they had given up on me. How was I supposed to know that you're supposed to scream, jump away, and act like you're having a heart attack when someone puts a rubber snake in your drawer?  It wasn't that I didn't get the joke.  I just never reacted the expected way.

One of my coworkers had a small fish tank next to her desk. One morning I greeted Donna as I returned from getting a cup of coffee, while she sat warming up her Apple II for the day. I walked around the corner and sat at my own desk just as the rest of the office began to arrive.

A couple of hours passed before Donna noticed a new pair of eyes staring at her from the depths of her fish tank.  I heard a shriek of surprise.

"Who put this gorilla in my fish tank?!!" 

This exclamation was followed by laughter; the normally taciturn Donna was actually laughing.  Everyone else had to come and see that, truly, there was a gorilla in the fish tank.  This was remarked upon as quite creative; no one had ever thought about putting anything in the fish tank as a practical joke. 

"Who did put the gorilla in the fish tank?"  The group exchanged bewildered looks.

"I did."  I smiled as I walked back to my desk, and I went back to work.

Source: google.com via Tina on Pinterest

 

 

Unfortunately for the poor fish, my coworkers tried to improve on my original prank.  A week later, Martie dropped a few glittery plaster Christmas ornaments into the fish tank as a prank...only to realize that plaster dissolves in water!  I walked into the office on that day to find a weeping Martie prostrate at a bemused Donna's feet, begging her forgiveness for killing her fish**. 

I smiled at Donna as I walked by; she smiled back, then rolled her eyes at Martie's wailing. 

**no fish were actually harmed, except they were glittery for awhile. 

 

RemembeRED Prompt: This week we’re asking you to write about a time that a prank, joke, or piece of gossip twisted out of control, producing unexpected results.  Unexpected doesn’t have to mean negative!