Readers share their favorite office pranks

Snack survey
We had just gotten a new snack machine in our office. I sent everyone except Mike an e-mail saying that Mike had volunteered to take a survey of choices for the machine. I explained that Mike was a busy guy, so that instead of wasting his time, everyone should just leave him a voicemail simply stating their two choices among Twinkies, Ho-Hos, Ring Dings and Ding-Dongs. Within 15 minutes, poor Mike's voicemail box was overflowing with dozens of messages that just said things like "Ding Dongs and Ho-Ho's" or "Twinkies and Ring Dings" with no explanation. He didn't have a clue why. – Tom Infurna, Scarsdale, NY

Brutus-napping
We swiped a co-worker's beloved Ohio State bobble head "Brutus" and sent it to a customer who was in on the joke. The customer then had their graphics department create and send anonymous e-mails from Brutus' captors to our co-worker with pictures of Brutus winning the Tour de France, running with the bulls, in a Mexican prison, etc. I was crushed when our co-worker figured out who was behind it all because our little joke had to come to an end. – Lynn, Chicago, IL

All wet
What I do every year is to tape down the handle on the sink sprayer and aim it straight ahead. I do this in both the upstairs and downstairs break rooms. Someone always comes out wet. – Ed, Anchorage, Alaska

Sound the alarm
I used to work for a Radio Shack back years and years ago. We once set all the alarm clocks and radios to go off within one minute of each other. The manager who was working there at the time nearly had a meltdown. He finally saw the humor in it, but it was really hysterical looking at him run to another section of the store only to get there and have another one began buzzing or ringing or dinging or music going on! – JD Brewer, Phoenix, AZ

Too pretty
Packed up all of my secretary's personal belongings at work and informed her that my wife said she was "too pretty" to work here anymore and had to fire her. She started crying uncontrollably and I then informed her it was April Fools' Day – Rodney, Simi Valley, CA

Screen shot
An overly trusting co-worker didn't lock his PC when he left for break. I took a screen shot of his desktop, set it as his wallpaper, then moved all of his desktop items and shortcuts into his "my documents" folder. Everything looked like it should because the wallpaper had their images — but mysteriously nothing we'd moved into "my documents" would respond to any clicks of the mouse. He was completely stumped for about 15 minutes until I confessed. – Dave, Gainesville, GA

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