Dear Readers,
Happy April 1! Welcome to the 4th month of the calendar year. For many people, today is just another day. To many others, it is a day where they feel they have carte blanche to spew completely ridiculous and inappropriate 'jokes' with their friends. Unfortunately, I've seen my share of Facebook posts that were not at all funny, both from friends as well as some pretty credible sites I normally enjoy reading things from. I've seen a 'joke' of a post regarding the renaming of Cinderella's Castle to the BBC creating a new series based on Harry Potter's Godric's Hollow. I've seen people post horrible things about themselves, things that made their close friends seriously concerned. And for what? For April Fool's? Well, call me a prude, but I do not find this day funny in the least.
We live in a society where we are fed information on the internet and believe it to be 100% accurate and true no matter what. How many times we've seen things reposted on Facebook by countless people only to find out, via Snopes, that it is completely false. We find it difficult to believe things we see, but yet when our close friends and family post the most bizarre of statuses on this day, we believe it with every ounce of our being.
Out of all the days in the year, I dislike April 1 more than any other (although February 2 comes in a VERY close second). I've never enjoyed being the butt of other people's jokes, I don't like being pranked, and I don't find the humor in making others feel poorly. There is a huge difference between being told a joke (which is meant to be funny and elicit a laugh or two) and being pranked (where 9 times out of 10 the only one laughing is the one who pulled the prank). I'm not even sure how or why this day became April Fool's Day (unless I decide I care enough to Google it or something).
We expect people to treat each other with kindness and decency and then we promote a day where that all goes to hell because we think it is funny to play tricks and pull pranks on one another at any cost. Emotions are involved, but no one cares...."it's all in the name of the day" we hear. WRONG. There is nothing funny about posting that you were in a horrible car accident (especially to those who have lost someone or almost lost someone in a REAL one). There is nothing funny about posting that you are pregnant (especially to the woman who wants nothing more than to be a mom, yet can't OR the family who just lost a child). There is nothing funny about posting that you broke an arm or a leg (especially to the person who has broken a bone OR finds themselves unable to use a body part). Am I exaggerating a bit? No. I don't think I am. I completely LOATHE this day and what it stands for.
For the sake of my wee ones, I laughed at their attempts at fooling me today (with the whole, LOOK! It's SNOWING! or THERE'S A SPIDER HANGING FROM THE CEILING!) but deep down I just wanted to scream....I HATE THIS DAY! At least April 2 is only a few hours away.....
Until tomorrow, my friends....don't be a fool!
Think Thankfully!
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