April Fools...
It's April Fools Day. In light of today, I thought I'd share the last prank that got pulled on me one year ago today.
I was finishing my graduate internship at a residential treatment center for teenage boys. The house only held nine boys, and all our beds were full. I had two individual clients and did groups with all nine boys daily. There were several other interns there as well.
I walked in to prepare for group...completely oblivious to the fact that it was April Fools Day. Too bad the boys remembered. Two boys came around the corner to meet me with the news that one of my clients had run away. Now, this was an open door facility...meaning they could leave at any time, but we'd call their probabtion officer and the police so they never got far. Anyway, they told me the story of what had happened, and I bought it.
At that moment, Erinne--a fellow intern--came in. She was helping me with group that day. We walk into the office, and I relay the information to her. Immediately we start restructuring group in order to process with the other eight boys what has happened. As we were talking another inter walks in. I asked her if she knew about my client. Debbie looked at me strangely and said, "But I just saw him." Then, like a lightening bolt, it hit me...the boys got me.
In disbelief, I could feel the anger rising as all the blood in my body rushed to my head. I hate to be embarrassed, and embarrassed I was. The joke was in bad taste considering I had been at the center for almost a year and during that time, we all became attached to the boys. We poured everything we had into trying to help them work through their junk, and this is how they repay us! So goup that day was on why that was so mean...ending with a homework assignment. I had them write a five page essay on why that was mean and how sorry they were. They kept asking me if I was joking, but I was dead serious. If they didn't write all five pages of the essay, which started out as a 10 page essay but Erinne talked me out of that, there were serious consequences.
That's the last joke they played on me. I'm not good with practical jokes, but I would never tell a counselor her client ran away...especially when they know it only ends in that kid going to jail. It's just not nice.
That's my April Fools story. It's the only prank anyone has ever tried to pull on me thus far...not a good one, but a prank nonetheless.
So what's the best April Fools prank that's been pulled on you?
I was finishing my graduate internship at a residential treatment center for teenage boys. The house only held nine boys, and all our beds were full. I had two individual clients and did groups with all nine boys daily. There were several other interns there as well.
I walked in to prepare for group...completely oblivious to the fact that it was April Fools Day. Too bad the boys remembered. Two boys came around the corner to meet me with the news that one of my clients had run away. Now, this was an open door facility...meaning they could leave at any time, but we'd call their probabtion officer and the police so they never got far. Anyway, they told me the story of what had happened, and I bought it.
At that moment, Erinne--a fellow intern--came in. She was helping me with group that day. We walk into the office, and I relay the information to her. Immediately we start restructuring group in order to process with the other eight boys what has happened. As we were talking another inter walks in. I asked her if she knew about my client. Debbie looked at me strangely and said, "But I just saw him." Then, like a lightening bolt, it hit me...the boys got me.
In disbelief, I could feel the anger rising as all the blood in my body rushed to my head. I hate to be embarrassed, and embarrassed I was. The joke was in bad taste considering I had been at the center for almost a year and during that time, we all became attached to the boys. We poured everything we had into trying to help them work through their junk, and this is how they repay us! So goup that day was on why that was so mean...ending with a homework assignment. I had them write a five page essay on why that was mean and how sorry they were. They kept asking me if I was joking, but I was dead serious. If they didn't write all five pages of the essay, which started out as a 10 page essay but Erinne talked me out of that, there were serious consequences.
That's the last joke they played on me. I'm not good with practical jokes, but I would never tell a counselor her client ran away...especially when they know it only ends in that kid going to jail. It's just not nice.
That's my April Fools story. It's the only prank anyone has ever tried to pull on me thus far...not a good one, but a prank nonetheless.
So what's the best April Fools prank that's been pulled on you?
posted by angie at 8:37 AM
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