Putting Some Fun Back Into 9 to 5 explores how different workplaces attempt to be more fun. Now part of this reminds me of the forced fun in The Office, which is, of course, no fun at all. And the article does a fair job of pointing out that what is fun to some of us is no fun to others. I also recall writing about an Attack Monkey, who was regarded as hilarious by some (read the comments), and not so funny by others.

Interestingly enough (to me), the notion of pranking keeps coming up:

And then there is Dr. Robert Woo, an oral surgeon of Auburn, Wash., who replaced two of his dental assistant’s teeth with implants. The woman’s family, as it happened, raised potbellied pigs, and she often talked about them with co-workers in the office.

While the patient was under anesthesia for the implants, Dr. Woo played a practical joke of sorts. He installed two bridges, which he had designed to look like boar tusks (which Dr. Woo must have thought were similar to potbellied pig tusks), and then took pictures of his sedated employee. By the time she awoke, proper new teeth were in place.

But the assistant learned what had happened when the photos surfaced at an office party.

She quit and sued, then settled out of court for $250,000.

And you’ll recall yesterday’s post on the Los Angeles Fire Department and the history of litigation related to discrimination, some of which involved pranking.

It seems important to consider empathy when pranking. How would you feel if you were medicated, fitted with pig tusks, and then photographed? Likewise, how would you feel if you were tricked into eating dog food? Not so fun.