This is no joke. It\u2019s April Fools\u2019 Day. If you get any amount of satisfaction from fooling others, this day is for you. If you\u2019re one of those gullible people that fall for most anything \u2014 well, maybe you should just stay in today.
\nOn my calendar, this is actually two holidays \u2014 April Fools\u2019 Day and Fun at Work Day. Again, no joke. This is International Fun at Work Day. I suppose work should always be fun, but for (probably) most people, it\u2019s not. So today is your chance. Think of things and ways to make your job more fun and exciting. Of course remember that no matter how\u00a0 much fun you have today at work, you have to go to work tomorrow \u2014 so use your own judgement as to how much fun is too much\u2026.<\/p>\n
But back to April Fools\u2019 Day \u2014 like a lot of our holidays, no one really knows why we started, and continue, to celebrate a dastardly day like this. But there are a lot of theories.
\nMost of the explanations revolve around when Pope Gregory XIII (in 1582) adopted the Gregorian Calendar, effectively moving New Years\u2019 Day from the end of March to the first of January. Even though the change was widely publicized, just like today, some people didn\u2019t get the memo, and some just resisted the change and continued to celebrate the New Year at the end of March. Those that didn\u2019t make the change were called \u201cApril Fools.\u201d There are lots of other theories, but the fact that some April Fools\u2019 Day origin stories are pranks in and of themselves just adds to the confusion.<\/p>\n
April Fools\u2019 Day is celebrated pretty much worldwide, but in most countries, it has its own \u201ctwist.\u201d
\nThe day is known as Poisson d\u2019Avril in France, which means \u201cApril Fish\u201d in English. Children tape a picture of a fish on the backs of a classmate and wait until they discover it. Taily Day (Scotland) is all about pranks involving people\u2019s behinds and may have inspired the \u201cKick Me\u201d sign.<\/p>\n
In recent years, corporate america has gotten into the spirit of April Fools\u2019 and and released fake ads and promoted fake products. One that I thought was particularly good was in 1996. Taco Bell took out a full page ad in a number major newspapers saying that the fast food chain had purchased the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. I think I read in the paper this morning that you can now get your tax refund in iTunes cards\u2026.<\/p>\n
Abraham Lincoln said, \u201cYou can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you can\u2019t fool all the people all the time. Maybe today is the day you can come closer to fooling all the people all the time\u2026. Everybody else has their day, so why not fools?
\n\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n
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This is no joke. It\u2019s April Fools\u2019 Day. If you get any amount of satisfaction from fooling others, this day is for you. If you\u2019re one of those gullible people that fall for most anything \u2014 well, maybe you should … Continue reading