April Fool's Jokes: the good and the bad

It's April Fools Day, and it's great to play tricks and practical jokes on people, but what is appropriate and what isn't?

The good: involve cute little gags such as tying someone's shoes together or placing saran wrap over the toilet. All the small gags create an "I got you" feeling and all is forgiven, but some things go too far. Things like putting fake bugs in a salad or switching names on some cans is all good clean fun.

Even companies play tricks on their employees on occasion, like my boss did once by convincing us that the store would close early.

The bad: serious gags are not appropriate when stress is involved. Some people can't handle stress very well, have a medical condidtion, or may even hurt you. These types of incitements should be avoided.

Examples of this would be: telling someone you have cancer or another serious disease, telling your boyfriend you're pregnant, spraying things on people's cars, throwing eggs at people, etc.

Company's who have gone a little too far but creating a panic include: a Cincinnati radio station called Q102, broadcast a modern version of Orson Well's War of the Worlds radio play when they reported that aliens had landed at the local Lunken Airport.