by Roz Romero

Created on: October 31, 2007

Playful pranks played regularly in any office or workplace will always breed a happy, productive crew as long as you play fair, that is. You could have the most boring job in the world, but if there is a sense of playfulness in the air, you are more likely to enjoy punching that time clock.

Especially today, in this crazy world of constant peril and imminent danger, hi-jinx on the job most definitely has its place. As long as no harm is caused, keeping the kid in us alive is a good thing. People need to laugh, and feel connected to their co-workers. What better way to accomplish this than to pull off a couple of crazy stunts on an unsuspecting subject?

A few years ago, I worked in a somewhat stuffy law office. In the break room one day, I overheard some of my co-workers discussing childhood celebrity crushes. One lady, whom I had always considered the stuffiest of my co-workers, foolishly admitted to a current mad crush on, of all people, Geraldo Rivera! A crush on Geraldo? I just couldn't get my head around that concept. It made no sense to me whatsoever. I figured that this woman's tragic admission was a thinly-veiled cry for help. My mission was clear. This woman was in desperate need of a fun makeover.

My mind churned many ideas, but I focused on locating the goofiest picture of Geraldo I could find. With my boss' permission, I made dozens of photocopies of nothing but his head. When I was done, I had Geraldo heads in all different sizes and dimensions. (I used paper from the recycle bin, of course.)

As my unsuspecting co-worker lunched off site with my boss, my co-workers and I began taping these Geraldo heads throughout the office. No tape-able surface was off limits. We laughed our heads off coming up with places to put those heads.

Geraldo found his way into the most uncanny places. Open a drawer, there he was. Pull out the coffee pot; giant Geraldo head. Wrapped around a pencil, teeny weeny Geraldo. Three wee Geraldos faces grinned up from underneath a tape dispenser. The bottom of the storage room bucket hosted Geraldo. He graced the bathroom stalls, including the toilet seat. Several bottled items in the employee refrigerator had the newsman's head. Waiting quietly under the lid, in the darkness, Geraldo's head was affixed to the printer cartridge. Everywhere, as I said, that was capable of holding tape, was a terrific host for the head o' Geraldo.

This madness didn't stop in the office either. We made sure to put Geraldo on the wheel hubs of our office

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