Pranks we did when younger... and still do?

[htchevyii]

I got sick of the mechanics touching stuff on my desk, so I got a "special", pen, paper clip and stapler. It worked pretty good, except for the guys that wear gloves. The problem is, they get thrown on the floor and broken.

[radiopilot]

yeah, if we're gonna talk politiks... and voting percentages.... let's not forget that the MAJORITY of eligible voters

REFUSED

to exercise their right to vote. leaving the decision making to the minority of us.

Mike... In my U.S. those that didn't exercise their right to vote don't have squat to complain about... for U.S. Citizens (YES that includes the BUM walking down the street) if they VOTE they get counted and have at least exercised their basic rights as citizens. Those that stayed home and did not exercise their right to vote and watched the voting process go by because they wanted some 'form of protest' can not duly have any form of protest once the process is over…

Sorry... the pranks can continue on….

Nick

[So Cal Mark]

the pranks can continue.....at your employers' expense. Try working for yourself and see if you encourage your employees wasting (stealing) time and materials so they can amuse themselves at others' misfortune.
IMHO, this is one of the most offensive threads I've read here. My point about jobs being outsourced was to point out the poor work ethic here. People work for much less money in other countries because they are desperate for work. Perhaps as workers here struggle with unemployment for a couple of years, they will be thankful enough for a job that they will actually work all of the hours they are paid for.

[radiopilot]

the pranks can continue.....at your employers' expense. Try working for yourself and see if you encourage your employees wasting (stealing) time and materials so they can amuse themselves at others' misfortune.
IMHO, this is one of the most offensive threads I've read here. My point about jobs being outsourced was to point out the poor work ethic here. People work for much less money in other countries because they are desperate for work. Perhaps as workers here struggle with unemployment for a couple of years, they will be thankful enough for a job that they will actually work all of the hours they are paid for.

Most offensive thread? Stealing? I must say Mark you''re way off bounds here to make remarks regarding who did what or used what... materials whether recycled or not... you won't know that unless you worked with me and those I've worked with... the intrumentation tubes were removed from engines and bound for scrap, the freon were spares not to be used anymore, the plaque made for the fake award was material bought in to work during non-working hours, etc., nothing was used outside 'government hours' and I think it's absurd I have to defend myself here regarding this... poor work ethics? I bet half the people here are using company computers to be this board posting away assuming the smart companies have not put a lock against going on forums and chatrooms.

Nick

I

[Foster48x]

Mark I see your point. Too many shenanigans can have a negative effect on an employee’s productivity but being a slave driver 24/7 can also produce the same outcome. Sometimes you need to find that balance at work to keep from going insane.

I encourage my employee’s to have a good time in moderation. A stress free happy employee is a productive employee in my business.

I blame MY lack of productivity on Fiatspider.com!

[So Cal Mark]

if all of your pranks were done on your own time and you provided the materials, then good on you. In my experience, that would happen less than 1% of the time. I like to have a good time too. But the view depends on which side of the fence you're sitting. Imagine you brought your Fiat in to me for repair work. When you arrived at the end of the day to pick it up, my reply was "we didn't finish the work, we were busy playing tricks on each other". I'm sure you would be very understanding.
Sorry you're offended by my reply, but I can asure you I'm more offended by this thread. If I was your supervisor, you would have been clearing out your desk after the first prank. If nothing else, you exposed your employer to a harrasment law suit if your supervisor was aware of the pranks and let them continue. Just my opinion.

[mbouse]

this is one weird thread:
pranks
politics
employee harrassment
employee theft

what's next?

i know... who's going to FIAT FREAK OUT?

anyone at this forum willing to meet me at the bar? i might be enticed to buy a round or two for my buds at FS dot Com - - must be present to win. some restrictions apply. applicable to qualified adults only. no cash value. no deposit no return. not a significant source of nutrients. best if sold by date on bottle. brunettes and busty blondes preferred. grass skirts get extra credit (more on that later).

[radiopilot]

this is one weird thread:
pranks
politics
employee harrassment
employee theft

As I sit here at Starbucks sipping my coffee trying to figure out what I'm reading in total disbelief over something done over 30 years ago with total ignorance of laws not even in place at the time... harassment done to whom? The times surely were much different indeed where a man can never say hello to a woman without a lawsuit over sexual harassment.

Glad that my supervisor at the time was as understanding being prankster himself, I've followed a lot of my friends whom I have the pleasure to work with and they are all family oriented, good natured, successful business owners/company managers/CEO's and we all remember the times we've had and it's because of those occasions that have strengthen us today.

I too have been impacted by this economy in my line of business as a consultant that does business to many companies I know all too well the economy and it's effects... but it's never made me a dull unlively stiff even at the age of 53.

Innocent play at work (didn't someone here post they have shockable pens, staples, stapler, etc. on their desk) but that's not considered 'pranks at work', is part of making it a pleasure to be at work otherwise yes Mark you're right you'd be at some third world country doing slave labor for a slave company paying slave wages... be thankful for those working here but I don't remember signing anyone’s life and humility away.

Don't know what nerve I've touched here but Mark you're the site administrator and yet you did nothing or said nothing till my last post regarding the 'voting'... YET there were definitely derogatory posts about 'Mexican Pimped Fiats' and of course you thought it was politically correct to continue that thread... how do you know there weren't others offended by that thread... it's funny but even I thought it was in bad taste and didn't even want to contribute...

But in the end no need to ban anyone here from this forum as I've BANNED myself forever from this forum.

I apologize to anyone who sent me clock to restore, I will honor those commitments.

Nick

[So Cal Mark]

you've taken a quantum leap going from slave labor to screwing off at work. Certainly there has to be some ground in-between.
If you hate your work so much that you don't get any enjoyment from accomplishing it without tormenting someone, I'd suggest you find work you like. Just my take, but if I screw around pulling pranks I don't make a living. No one gives me a paycheck. If it works for you, congratulations.
Maybe your next round could be shredding your kids' homework after he/she goes to bed. It'll be hilarious to see them trying to paste it back together before school. Or rig your stove so the next batch of spaghetti sauce explodes on your wife. I'll die laughing seeing the video of her cleaning the ceiling.
Go ahead and post more of your pranks, I won't be back on this thread. It's just not productive

[Gunsmith]

Well I have been pretty busy lately so I haven't had time to jump in here and read all these novels posted on this thread. WOW!

Much of what everyone said is true in one circumstance or another when it comes down to outsourcing and down sizing etc. My warm charming delightful ex-wife was my accountant/CFO and would constantly say we need to stop all of the over time for my 50 technicians because it cost too much and we should quit paying all of these big bonuses and we would have more money. While this looked good on paper it was hardly a good solution. The over time paid to the techs was normally billed to the client as over time for relocating or changing out their equipment after normal business hours so we made good money on it. The bonuses where either performance based for the techs or commissions on job profits for the sales engineers. So had myself as the President/CEO listened to the very short sighted accountant I would have chased everyone away and watched my competition hire the techs I trained and pick up the customers I could no longer service. The bottom line is yes the accountant had the stupid idea but it was ultimately my decision as to what was best for my staff and company. I got a new accountant and a much better wife!

You can blame it all on personal injury, harassment and EPA attorneys for many of our lost jobs. The accountants job is to tell the other executives how much money and where they are making or loosing it and it is the rest of the executive team that has the responsibility as to what to do with the information. When it becomes to costly to run a company in this country due to law suits, regulations and employee problems there is only one option left for many companies. They must move to get away from the problems or just close up shop. Make it attractive and easy for American companies to bring production back to this country and we will be back were we should in no time.

Now on to the pranks.

You know I have executed so many pranks in my life it is hard to just single them out but I will try. I also had strict rules for my pranks, no one gets hurt or too embarrassed, they can not be mean or destructive but can cost anything. Fun should not have a monetary limit!

Ah yes one of my favorites,

A friend of mine was an FTO (Field Training Officer) for a local Police Dept. Thus he would constantly have newbies ripe for the taking. One day I noticed the two of them on their police bikes parked under some trees learning the laser speed gun. So I pulled up in my convertible 68 Vette and brought a small towel up to my friend. When he opened the towel there was a pistol in it and I said. "I got all of the serial numbers off of this throw down for you, do I need to go get a new one for this guy too" The poor rookie had no idea what to say. My friend was a cool cucumber and just said "No he's not ready for that yet." During this conversation our Harley mechanic saw us under the tree and had no idea what we where doing but stopped to come up to talk to us. So as a Harley Mechanic he was quite the burly biker looking guy at 6'5". He noticed the new guy so to be funny he pulls out a switch blade with a shop rag and hands it to our friend and says "I got all of the finger prints and stamps off of this so it's safe for a throw down, by the way thanks for looking the other way for me on that thing." Then we just go back to our vehicles and drive away. Of course this poor kid has no idea what to do now and has to ride around with this crooked cop the rest of the day. After the shift our friend came by our shop just in tears. The poor kid decided to go to the Captain about the problem who let him sweat it out and brought my friend in for him to face and then they both busted out laughing and explained to him how he had been had. This obviously became part of the break in routine for the rookies.

[pooldoctorstl]

I knew that you should never discuss politics and religion with friends if you wanted to stay friends and I have generally always abided by that simple rule. I guess now we have to add pranks to that list.

[kmead]

Pranks have always been a component of work, no matter the industry.

Newbies on any job are always the ones who have been the butt of jokes since forever.

What mechanic hasn't at least tried the blinker fluid, muffler bearing or similar on the pump jockey/runner when the kid goes to NAPA?

I can't tell you the number of versions of the story about the young engineer, tool and die apprentice or other individual to go down the to the tool room to get the metal stretcher or some other non existent tool to solve the problem at hand.

I think that practical jokes of varying degrees are an important part of being part of a team. Those shared experiences are part of the ties that bind. I work in a very intense environment with long hours, big commitments and so on, jokes big and small have been the lubricant that keeps us all sane. The time one of my coworkers emptied the hole punch onto the top of another coworkers binder bin door in the open position has always been a great pleasure to look back on 12 years later.

I can assure you that with the 50-60 and periodically 100 salaried hours a week I put in, what minor time lost pales in comparison to the literally millions of dollars my work has generated for my employer.

A good one today was the bag of frozen peas delivered by another coworker to a director who was getting the Friday afternoon operation (snip snip). Although we didn't get the enjoyment of seeing it we did get the report of his response "Those bastards!" followed by a good laugh, from our witting delivery person.

Clearly there are some things out of bounds, mean, uncalled for and so on. The point of a practical joke is not to do any of those things. I would have to say that the Freon was pretty creative and as a person in the room it would been pretty funny, even if it was done to me.

[kmead]

Whoops double post

[rlux4]

I'm glad I waited to respond to the direction this thread had taken. No way could I have put it any better than kmead did.
I hope Nick will return. I respect his work, and his opinions.
Ron

[FatherG]

I've sent him a pm but he has not replied. I too hope he returns.

Eugenio