Some may view pranks as acts of harmless mischief or jokes or tricks.
Throughout history, far too many pranks have gone awry. In some cases, the consequences included varying levels of misery. Take Joan of Arc. Disguised as a male, she led the French army to victory. And was executed for her trouble. Bad prank or bad luck?
Recently, we watched a seven-season series on Netflix called “New Girl.” Aside from the tendency of many of the characters to do things that can only be called downright stupid, one character, in particular, stood out. Winston.
Winston loved to play tricks on his flatmates. And when he met Rhonda, a female soldier who shared his penchant for pranks, things got out of hand.
The two tricksters never seemed to understand the downside of going over the top. And whenever they admitted to playing a prank, their laughter was not only loud but often resembled the braying of a herd of donkeys.
One day the couple arrived at the loft apartment with her wearing a wedding veil and announced that they got married. It was real including their marriage license. And then, they screamed with glee. “You are pranked.”
The plan was to get an annulment the next day. But Winston received a call from Rhonda telling him she was deployed for an extended period. So the annulment would have to wait until she returned.
After several months without finalizing the annulment, Winston discovered they would have to get a divorce.
It is unclear how long they remain prank-married, but Rhonda did not make things easy even when Winston wanted to marry Aly. Before signing actual divorce papers, Rhonda prolonged the mess by signing prank versions.
In real life, people, especially juveniles, play tricks on one another all the time. Some are funnier than others while many fall flat.
But someone who is way beyond adulthood continues to play tricks on humans far too often. This adult is Mother Nature. After the countless discrepancies between forecasts and actual weather events, we have concluded that she must be in cahoots with the weather forecasters just to shake things up.
We have experienced dire weather warnings from the weather folk only to have things turn out as non-events. Of course, once the actual weather problems arise, then the forecasters are in a better position to get things right.
What never ceases to amaze this lady is the speed with which weather-related things change.
For example, you go sailing on a beautiful sunny day. You assume everything will be fine throughout the rest of the trip. Of course, some folks do check the forecast. Although inclement weather is predicted it is moving in a different direction from your planned sailing route.
Folks often believe they can go out and return before any possible storm hits. Before they realize it, a hurricane pops up. That is a definite oopsy on the part of the sailors.
However, Mother Nature is not blameless. She may fool the weather forecasters into believing the storm is heading in one direction. And then, she pranks everyone by changing her mind. Her not-too-funny about-face often has terrible consequences.
Suddenly, all Hades breaks loose. Tornados. Flooding. Brutal, drenching rain. Power outages and other not-so-pleasant events pop up. People end up with damage to their homes, their vehicles, and sometimes even to their bodies.
Recently, many of us sat in closets or bathrooms we deem to be the safest places to ride out the latest storm that included 80-plus miles per hour straight line winds. Many prayed and hoped the storm passed over them without doing much damage.
People suffered varying degrees of misery. Some lost power for an extended period.
In our case, heavy patio furniture blew across the gazebo. Trees fell across our county road while broken branches littered our yard. Because this lady can be oblivious to her surroundings, it took her three days to notice the barn’s roof was crushed into a giant metal ball.
The next morning, the sun was shining.
That dastardly prankster, Mother Nature, gave us clear skies, acting as if nothing of consequence happened.