A Peck of Gold

Move Over, Ashton Kutcher

I'm not the "Practical Joker" of a group. I may kid around occasionally, but I'm basically in the audience most of the time (which is fine... the audience is fun). However, this Christmas, my cousin and I couldn't pass up a sweet opportunity to pull a really dirty joke on my family.

Each year at our family Christmas party, instead of exchanging gifts, we each donate $10 to a charity. One person gets to choose the charity for the year, something that has special meaning to that individual. This year, it was my turn to choose the charity, even though I wasn't going to be there for the party. So, my cousin, Joey, and I hatched up a little plan. He would make the announcement of which charity I had chosen, and say a few words about it in my absence. Except, he wouldn't tell them the real charity I had chosen, but a fake one. One they'd hate.

Joey told them I'd chosen the Earth Liberation Front, which happens to be an environmental activist group that the FBI has listed on it's domestic terrorist list. Well, Joey hammed it up real good, listing some of their "activities" which include some buzz words like "economic sabotage" and "capitalist destruction". He said he had real reservations about this group, but that I had chosen it and we had to live with it.

Well, you can imagine the response. Some people gave me the benefit of the doubt. They thought maybe I knew something they didn't about the local chapter that wasn't so bad. Others were more upset, and gave heartfelt speeches about why this was wrong. Then, there was the unexpected reaction from members of MY immediete family who got defensive of me and felt that I wasn't being treated fairly. And of course, a few people had no clue what in the world was going. Things started to get pretty tense, and later my aunt told me she was just praying that our family would somehow survive this... My sister had walked out of the room... well, Joey saw that it was definitely time to lower the bombshell...

"IT'S A JOKE! YOU'VE ALL BEEN PUNK'D!"

The room just exploded in laughter, relief, disbelief, and many swears of revenge. They totally didn't expect that coming. We are not a "jokey" family, so they bought it all hook, line, and sinker.

Now, I watched the tape over Christmas, and I have to admit a little sympathy for everybody. It was so tense and they really didn't know what to do. But, I can't help but laugh, too. I know it's a year they will never forget, and they will talk about this party for a long time. I know I've got some payback coming, but that's okay. I probably deserve it. And I'll be expecting it.

The real charity I chose was the Never Ending Garden, which is a new program that provides families in South Africa with the tools and training to start and maintain a garden to provide food for themselves. It's a far cry from the Earth Liberation Front, and everyone was really happy to be donating to such a good cause.

Anyway... that's my experience as a prankster over the holidays. I just had to share it. It's great when you do something that really captures the spirit of Christmas, isn't it?