Playful Mischief: A Story of Deception
Apart from love, mischief is cruel. My last mischievous act almost went too far.
You should know that my wife (Dale) enjoys “her” birds. She fills the feeders every morning. Every evening she brings the feeders in so the bears won’t destroy them.
Soon she’ll attach the hummingbird feeder to the window. Last summer she spotted a family of eagles.
She heard them before she saw them. While sitting on the deck, I heard her say, “I think that’s an eagle.” That’s when I heard it too and that’s when she ran for her binoculars.
“Our” eagles soar high. But you can find them if you search with diligence.
It’s more fun to watch her watch them than it is to actually see them. But we haven’t seen or heard the eagles this year. Well, that’s not exactly true.
I did the evil deed last week. It was warm enough, one day last week, to use my back-deck-office. We took our chairs out.
She thought she heard them. Is that an eagle! I heard it too. I pretended to look. She grabbed the binocs. I kept scanning the sky.
I couldn’t believe it actually worked. The eagle’s call she heard came from my phone. It echoed off the wall and sounded enough like the real thing that she believed. Until she saw my phone.
First, she was ticked. Then she laughed. “I think that’s your best ever.” I’m proud.
In a weird way, playful mischief means someone is thinking of you.
I hide in the closet and make a sound when she walks by. Occasionally, I stand in the bedroom with a blanket over my head. That one’s creepy.
I even lock her out of the house.
Is it time to lighten the mood?
It’s absolutely time to lighten the mood! Thanks for sharing and keeping us inspired … and motivated! 😉
Thanks Marie. Steady on!! 🙂
Dan, I believe it’s important to find ways to lighten mood where possible. It help builds positive feelings and develop relationships. In a recent meeting where we were all talking about teleworking and trying to remember the day of the week, I mentioned “what? you don’t have your day-of-the-week sweatpants marked?” That drew a few giggles and brought us up. Of course, like everything, you have to keep in mind the audience and the appropriateness of the remark.
Good one, Kathy! I realized that I had the same fleece on for two days. I need to adopt your numbering system.
Apart from love, mischief is cruel…In a weird way, playful mischief means someone is thinking of you. Both are great statements.
Thank you Dan!
Thanks Will. Best wishes.
Yes, laughter is the best physical and mental medicine!
So true, Bob. I was just on a call with a coaching client. She read one of her favorite jokes. I could see the stress wash off her face while she laughed.
My cousin from the old country, Count Yorga Alucard, sat in for me at our managers’ mtg. on Monday. He was very well received with his long dark hair, pale complexion, ruby red lips and European accent. We’re dealing with very serious stuff, but a little fun makes life easier now. I’m going to steal your “blanket over your head in the bedroom”, Dan!
Thanks Sam. I think I’d like to see Count Alucard. 🙂 That’s great.
The blanket over the head is strangely creepy. The other night, instead of waiting in the bedroom, I stood in a doorway that my wife had to pass on the way to the bedroom. 🙂
Have fun.
Thank you Dan. If we could all learn to laugh a bit more, life would be fully and we’d probably live longer. There’s nothing like working a job that you love to go to because of the people and culture that exists. Loved this.
Thanks Mike. A little laughter goes a long way to building great team work and strengthening relationships. I laugh a lot with the people I like and who like me.
The vast majority of the people that work in the building that I work in are teleworking – roughly 275 out of 300. But there are some of us that are essential and properly social distancing. One of our employees had a rough day yesterday with a time-crunched assignment, so…
this morning I turned a plastic cup upside down on their desk with the writing on it:
“Don’t lift! Unless you are ready to kill it.”
Brought a much-needed laugh.
Thanks Jordan. Made me laugh too! Cheers
Dan, I love these posts about the tricks you play on your wife. I’m still waiting for the guest post from her, by the way… I tricked my wife Francie yesterday. She left the house for something essential, I think it included a trip to a fabric store. The dishwasher was waiting to be emptied, and I was pretty sure she was thinking she would do it when she returned. So while she was gone, I put everything away, but closed up the dishwasher to look like it still needed to be emptied. She was surprised.
Nice one, Glen. That’s NOT playful mischief. That’s just playful. I’ve done the dishwasher thing a few times. It’s a pleasant surprise for her. Frankly, I think I’m a hero when I put my dishes IN the dishwasher. 🙂
One of the challenges some people is knowing when to stop, or stopping when asked.
It seems that the common connection to light-hearted mischief, or teasing or flirting is the idea of attention and evoking some laughter or or reciprocated engagement.
However, when the words or actions are triggers which provokes fear or panic or embarrassment or humiliation, then it is time to quit. Time to back off. Time to apologize.
Great observation, Darrell. It’s true. Some have a higher tolerance for mischief than others. And sometimes we just don’t realize that we are being inappropriate.
Playful mischief succeeds best when we know someone well. Probably not a good idea with strangers. For example, standing in a hallway in the office with a blanket over your head might be too weird, especially if its the first time you’ve been in the office. 🙂
Dan,
I think most people enjoy a little well timed mischievousness from their friends…
The key is that those who dish it out MUST be willing to be on the joyful end of receiving it when it comes… and it WILL come. Yes, that’s a voice of experience.
Everyone loves humor, but they also love a good sport, and someone who can take it as good as they can dish it out.
#BeAGoodReceiver
By the way Dan, I have a free app I created on the App Store called Prank King…
Just in case you needed a few ideas… 😉
Thanks Page. So glad you dropped in. Some mischief goes too far and some people can’t take a joke. Good point… be a good sport. Cheers and best wishes with your app.
Little mischief never harms and keeps life on lighter note. 🙂
Thanks Lastunicorn. best wishes.
LOL! That’s cute. There is nothing wrong with being playful. As a matter of fact, if you ask me what my number one most desired trait is in my significant other, the answer will certainly be that he has to be funny (to me). Dry humor definitely counts! I can say the same thing for my all-time favorite coworkers. The ones that I enjoyed working with the most are the same ones who had me laughing constantly while making the time fly by. I was not, however, happy that one graveyard shift when one of my coworkers scared the sweat out of me. Know your limits! Of course, the G.O.A.T managed to balance work with laughter. He was my fave.
Thanks Tanya. Yes, I’ve learned not to jump out of the closet and scare the crap out of my wife. Just a small noise does the trick. We can go too far.
Thanks for the reminder that laughter makes time fly.
So….. what is G.O.A.T? 🙂
GOAT – Greatest Of All Time. You are the GOAT Leadership Blogger!
LOL… thanks Jackie!! That’s a new one for me.