A Gentlemen's Agreement.

It is quite disturbing when you learn that one of your superiors has a dossier in his posession that contains a myriad of planned abductions for a certain person's chicken; it is more disturbing to note that a fellow 'bottom feeder' has been invited to join in the process and become an accessory to the crime. Now, being a man of honour and believing that, given appropriate opportunity, most people will act honourably, I approached my fellow pleb with a gentlemanly proposition. The agreement was for him to have no involvement whatsoever with the superior in question relating to any matters of practical joking (because none of them have been funny yet) and in return I would grant him safe passage for the duration of his time as my colleague.

He pondered a while, before seeking the opinion of fellow staff members. When he was informed that I had been the only person to successfully pull a prank on the boss without being fired (although quite why I am still unsure), needless to say, the agreement was passed into the realms of unspokenness without even the need for a handshake.

I suppose you want to know details of this famous prank? OK, but do not try this at your place of work, or you may quickly find yourself hunting through the jobs guide very soon. To be successful in practical joking you must first ensure the joke is funny and then judge the character of the prankee properly to ensure they will not take undue offence. If they are your boss, these rules are unbreakable and unbendable.

So, when you leave a scratch-ticket on the boss' desk one evening, and this scratchie he scratches to reveal a prize of $20,000, he gets rather excited. When he (eventually) turns the ticket over to read:

"Winning tickets of $10,000 or more must submit claim form by mail. Claim forms supplied by Santa Claus. All winning tickets must be validated by the tooth-fairy and conform to her game rules. Winning prizes may NOT be claimed anywhere, so forget about it! All winners are losers and must have an excellent sense of humour."

And yet I still have a job. I was taken aside and given a strict talking to the next morning, and he did relocate my desk over the weekend and make me look for it, but all in good fun.

The chicken had his revenge on this occasion, stay tuned to hear the tale of his next victim!