Not everybody is a fan of pranks.
Being the brunt of a joke doesn’t always go over well.
Some people think pranks are petty and petulant.
Some people love pranks and relish the joke.
Sometimes those people work together, and chaos ensues.
Redditor _iflookscouldkill_ wanted to discuss his experience and get some feedback, so naturally, he came to the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subreddit.
He asked:
“AITA for telling my coworker the ‘office prank’ wasn’t funny and refusing to participate?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“I (23 M[ale]) work in a small office.”
“We’re the type that celebrates birthdays with supermarket cake and a card everyone signs.”
“There’s this guy on our team (mid 30s M) who LOVES ‘banter.’”
“He’s not malicious, but he pushes things.”
“Last week it was my birthday.”
“I don’t like big attention, but whatever.”
“I came in, and my desk was completely wrapped in tin foil.”
“Keyboard, mouse, chair, monitor.”
“Even my water bottle.”
“Everyone was laughing.”
“Someone filmed my reaction.”
“I smiled at first because I assumed it was light.”
“Then I realized they’d also changed my desktop background to an old LinkedIn photo of me that I hate.”
“Like zoomed in.”
“Slightly distorted.”
“And they printed it and taped it to the wall behind my desk.”
“Everyone was watching me.”
“I just… stopped smiling.”
“I said, ‘Can we not do this?’”
“The ‘banter’ guy said, ‘Oh come on, it’s your special day. Take a joke.’”
“I said I didn’t find it funny and started unwrapping everything quietly.”
“No yelling.”
“No swearing.”
“Just not playing along.”
“The mood got weird fast.”
“Later, my manager pulled me aside and said I ‘killed the vibe’ and that it was meant to be team bonding.”
“Apparently, they spent their lunch setting it up.”
“Now some people are acting awkward around me.”
“One said I could’ve just laughed and moved on.”
“Another said I made it uncomfortable by being serious.”
“Here’s my thing: if I had fake-cry laughed and pretended it was hilarious, I’d be rewarding it.”
“And I genuinely felt embarrassed being filmed while everyone waited for a reaction.”
“I didn’t insult anyone.”
“I didn’t storm out.”
“I just didn’t perform gratitude for something I didn’t enjoy.”
The OP was left to wonder:
“AITA for refusing to play along?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed in on some options to the question, AITA:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared that OP was NOT the A**hole.
“NTA. You are not obligated to enjoy their prank.”
“Your manager says you killed the vibe?”
“Maybe their prank killed your enjoyment of the birthday celebration.” ~ REDDIT
“Exactly, definitely NTA.”
“It’s their place of employment, you’d think there’d be some level of professionalism… not a frat house prank war vibe… lol.” ~ Rude-Trifle-5165
“NTA, and your manager is a bad manager.” ~ Careless_Welder_4048
“Seriously, though, I’m appalled!”
“I’m a manager, and there’s no chance in hell I’d ever say that to someone.”
“That was wildly inappropriate, and frankly, the whole situation should’ve been shut down by the manager to begin with.” ~ Successful-Earth-214
“Some (well, many) managers have their heads firmly inserted into their backsides and have no clue that other people might not see things the way they do.”
“And dumb managers are almost certainly going to double down when resisted because, well, dumb.”
“This reminds me of that story from a few years back where a company insisted on throwing an employee a birthday party in spite of said employee adamantly warning that this would trigger a massive anxiety attack and was absolutely not wanted.”
“They did it anyway, employee freaked the hell out just as warned, management got all butthurt at the victim instead of the victimizers and fired the employee, the employee sued and won some big money.” ~ WebMaka
“I don’t claim to be the world’s best manager (I know my flaws), but some of the stories I hear from people about their managers just absolutely blow my mind.”
“On my worst day, I couldn’t be as bad as they are on their best.”
“It’s mind-boggling how some people seem to fall upwards.”
“Whoa, I’ve never heard that story before!”
“That’s nuts, I’m so glad it worked out for that person in the end, though.” ~ Successful-Earth-214
“NTA. This just sounds awful to have to put up with.”
“I hate ridiculous sh*t like this disguised as ‘team building.'”
“Wrapping your desk up in foil is wasteful of not only foil but your own time and energy to remove it.”
“And posting unflattering pictures of you is so very awkward.”
“And filming it?”
“Without your permission?”
“To do what with?”
“Share around as the ‘fun joke?'”
“’Look how uncomfortable we made Jane, isn’t it hilarious?’”
“So much cringe.” ~ wanderingstorm
“NTA… documents what they did and what your manager said to you, and take it to H[uman] R[esources].”
“A prank is when everyone is laughing; bullying is when everyone is laughing at someone.”
“You didn’t kill the vibe; they put you in an uncomfortable, unwanted, and unwarranted position for their entertainment and disrupted your workday to do more unwanted work.”
“You’re 100% right that if you laughed and played along, they’d just do it again, and you don’t want that.” ~ Dangerous_Cow_7372
“Get this on record with HR because I guarantee there will be negative fallout from this.”
“Passive aggression, exclusion, less/more work assigned by the manager, bad performance review because you’re ‘not a team player,’ reduced raise, loss of promotion, etc.”
“Essentially, targeted hostile work environment because you didn’t tolerate their bullying.” ~ Kr_Treefrog2
“Not just HR.”
“But IT needs to know your computer was accessible by other employees when the computer was left unattended.”
“That’s a breach and security issue.”
“Coworkers shouldn’t be able to get into your work computer.” ~ Clarence_Bow
“NTA, what a ridiculous, bad sitcom-style way to approach a workplace.”
“Your manager is definitely an ah for allowing this to happen and then demanding you be happy about it.”
“Life is not an episode of ‘The Office.'” ~ Sparrowsfly
“This is textbook workplace harassment, coordinated by your Manager, presumably with the approval of higher management.”
“This needs to be reported to HR, in writing, and you need to get an employment lawyer.”
“Being made the butt of an elaborate joke for management’s entertainment and to provide grist for the gossip mill is workplace bullying.”
“Because it was related to your age, it’s now age discrimination.”
“I guarantee that once you report this to HR, your manager is going to start looking for a reason to fire you.”
“Let him.”
“It preserves your eligibility to collect unemployment benefits, and it will give rise to a wrongful termination in retaliation for complaining about workplace bullying.” ~ Upbeat_Presence6229
‘NTA. You really need to know your audience when you do this kind of stuff.”
“Pranks are only funny if everyone is enjoying them.”
“I would have initially said NAH, as I don’t think they were explicitly trying to be mean.”
“The foil thing is a harmless albeit annoying prank, but someone filming your reaction makes the entire scenario particularly awkward and uncomfortable.” ~ thechaoticstorm
“NTA. The wrapping of your desk and such was harmless.”
“Displaying a distorted old photo (that you don’t like) was weird.”
“But filming you and then getting upset that your reaction wasn’t what they anticipated is total a**hole behavior.’
“Your response was professional and appropriate.” ~ ClassicCityMatt
“NTA. This is weird hazing.” ~ sarahmayim
“NTA. A prank is only funny if everyone is laughing.”
“Maybe just the tinfoil would be okay, but the picture was just mean.”
“And your boss is an enabler of bullying.”
“If you have HR, I would talk to them about this, because how far will the next ‘prank’ go?”
“Will someone who said they’re on a diet be met with donuts strewn around their desk and an unflattering picture of them from behind taped to the wall?”
“Will someone who’s said they’re scared of clowns be met with pictures of Pennywise all over their desk?”
“Putting someone’s stapler in jello is a prank.”
“Putting pictures of Gilbert Gottfried over every family picture on someone’s desk is a prank.”
“This went beyond that.” ~ cbm984
“It’s seriously concerning that it’s their BOSS who pulled them in and chastised them for killing the ‘vibe.'”
“They could have also spent lunch break planning a nice birthday surprise for OP?”
“NTA in any way.”
“This isn’t funny to most people, and filming you for a reaction is horrible.”
“The unflattering photo is even moreso!”
“Sure, some close friends or family may do that, but that’s an understanding humour between close people and not coworkers.” ~ parksa
“NTA. The moment you said you didn’t find it funny, they should have apologized.”
“If this isn’t something that has been done to other employees, then it’s at least a power play designed to ritually humiliate you, and if part of a series of ‘jokes’, it’s workplace bullying.” ~ Positive-Amphibian
“NTA, this is so unprofessional, and it’s completely your right to go to work and be able to do said work in peace.”
“This behavior is just draining and unfunny.”
“Especially on your birthday.” ~ Illustrious_One_1199
“NTA. A joke in the office is one thing, but I draw a line at messing with things people need to do their job.”
“And a bigger line at deliberately making someone feel bad about themselves.”
“One April Fool’s day (which we normally did not ‘celebrate’ in that office), a guy in my department put scotch tape under everyone’s mouse so they wouldn’t work right.”
“It was 30 minutes of everyone coming in and then getting stressed out because they couldn’t check email, couldn’t log into virtual meetings, etc.”
“Our entire department was pissed off once we figured out what happened, and he was all: ‘Hey, relax guys, it’s all in fun!'”
“His boss wasn’t as amused.” ~ BurnedWitch88
“NTA. That’s a really weird thing to do if you’re not close enough with the person to know that sort of joke would land.” ~ CerBerUs-9
Reddit is with you, OP.
This isn’t a classroom, it’s work.
You all aren’t teenagers, you’re adults.
You are allowed to express your reaction.
Especially on your birthday!
If things get any more awkward, don’t be afraid to call HR.