Being mischievous is usually something that kids like to do. It is a natural thing for children to be naughty and playful. I guess you could say this defines them because they just enjoy the moment, no matter what. For instance, many kids like to play the game "Hide and Seek". However, their game does not always involve hiding themselves or finding people who are hiding. Kids often like to hide things or objects . . . especially things that their parents need . . . like keys. (For some odd reason, this especially happens when their parents are running late for a very important meeting.) These youngsters get joy from watching their parents run around frantically looking for the keys, asking nervously if someone has seen them . . . The kids watch with smiles on their faces (debating whether or not to divulge the location of the keys, of course) while their parents think . . . Oh shoot! (S*#& for all of you adults out there) I'm going to get fired or berated by my boss if I miss this big meeting! (Welcome to parenthood!) Hence, parents can easily fall victim to their children's mischievous play, or . . . you guessed it, SHENANIGANS.
Let me go over the meaning of the word quickly. Shenanigan (or shenanigans, for plural) has a couple of meanings. One meaning is mischievous play, especially that of children (just like the example above). Other meanings have a darker tone and generally mean a devious trick or practice used for deceitful or underhanded purposes. Since my blog is about living under the sun (an obviously positive theme), let's forget the other meanings and focus on the first one . . . mischievous play.
I have often said that living under the sun means enjoying life, right? So, why should kids have all the fun? I think adults should have the right to be mischievous once in a while, too. It can be hilarious to watch adults fall pray to the shenanigans of other "adults". However, the shenanigans of adults are usually in the form of pranks, but a different term is used for this nowadays. When someone is a victim of such mischief, it is called "getting punked". In fact, there was even a TV show all about this called Punk'd, hosted by actor Ashton Kutcher. In each show, he played different elaborate pranks on his celebrity friends, such as the one on the right that he played on Justin Timberlake. When Timberlake was getting punked, he was definitely not dancing or singing about it. It was a little sad to watch and you had to feel for the guy. Nevertheless, it was still funny. =)
After watching the video of Ashton punking Timberlake, I remembered a shenanigan of mine that I played on my sister (who is about 10 years my junior) when I used to live in the U.S. She was about 15 years old at the time, and I seriously punked her. I'm sure she remembers it because it was absolutely . . . classic. I just have to tell you guys about it -- Please forgive me, my favorite (and only - lol) sister for mentioning it.
Like most kids who go to school, my sister would wake up early to get to school on time. She was an honor student and often studied hard until the wee hours of the night. She was attending a private all-girls Catholic prep school (my alma mater) which had strict nuns and teachers. The school was unfortunately about 20 minutes away by car. Hence, she was always rushing around in the morning so that she wouldn't be a minute late. It was usually dark when she woke up around 6am (in California where the sun wouldn't even come up until after 7am during certain times of the year). On the other hand, I didn't have to leave until 7:30am to get to work on time. Alas, these conditions dictated that someone (not me) clearly had to get punked.
On one particular day, my sister came home feeling exhausted. She had been studying late the night before and felt very sleepy. So, as anyone in her position would do, she went to bed right after dinner, which was around 7:30pm. After about 3 hours, it was time to pull my prank. My parents were in the living room watching the news on TV as they always did at that time of night. When my sister was already sleeping deeply, I sneaked into her dark room and quietly reset her clock to show 6:50am instead of 10:30pm. Afterwards, I hurried out of her room, quickly changed my clothes (as if I were going to work) and hung her school uniform in its usual place.
Then, I began the drama. I entered the room, turned on the light and woke her up violently. I asked her (with great 'sisterly' concern in my voice) if is she was sick and why she hadn't woken up. Still half asleep and disoriented, she said that she was O.K. and she must have forgotten to set her alarm clock the night before. I pointed to the clock and said that it was already very late. I told her to hurry because she had less than 15 minutes to leave. I helped her out of bed and quickly got her uniform for her. I told her she no longer had time to take a shower, and to quickly put on her uniform and fix her hair. Then, I rushed her to the restroom so that she could brush her teeth and fix her hair. I told her that I would run to the kitchen and make her a sandwich so that she could have breakfast on the road. However, after closing the bathroom door, I merely strolled into the living room, sat down next to my parents (who were still watching the news) and anxiously waited for her to rush in.
Surely enough, she ran into the living room in full uniform carrying her school bag and slightly out of breath. My parents just looked at her curiously and asked her where in the heck she was going. With a classic puzzled expression, she said that she was going to school and that she was late. My parents were even more confused. On the other hand, I was dying to laugh out loud, but I kept it in to keep the prank going. Then, my parents asked her what was wrong with her because it was 10:30pm on a Friday night and that there wasn't even school the next day. After that, I couldn't contain my laughter. It burst out in a roar. Then, it hit my parents and my sister that I was pulling a prank on her. They started to laugh, but she seemed irritated (naturally) as she had just gotten punked. Being a good sport she said, "Anne, you dork!" and told us she was going back to bed. (Actually, I think she wanted to curse at me and jump on me, but my parents were there. I was protected. LOL)
As you can see, even when we're adults, we can still have fun with shenanigans to create unforgettable memories that can still bring laughter . . . no matter how many years have passed. (I think my sister also laughs about it in retrospect, of course.) So, have some fun (even if it is mischievous) and experience all kinds of things under the sun.
However, here's a word of caution, too. If you do choose to pull a prank on someone, you have to act responsibly and think of all the possible things that could happen. Be safe and take measures to ensure that the prank brings no harm to anyone, especially to the person being punked. Some pranks end in tragedy either because they were recklessly done in the wrong place or at the wrong time. It's never a funny thing when someone gets hurt . . . or even dies.
With that in mind . . . remember that pulling a pranks and other shenanigans are not always a bad thing. They can be hilarious as long as you act cautiously. Hence . . . To punk or not to punk? That is the (next) question!
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