It is April the first in case most of you haven’t checked your calendars. That is April Fool’s Day in the US. I despise April Fool’s Day. It’s the only day of the year trusted sources go out of their way to pull your leg. And as many good comics have noted, the amateurs are never as good as professionals when it comes to telling jokes. Consequently most of the attempts at humor are merely attempts, and the ones that are convincing simply confuse the stupid for years to come when the humor of the moment is long gone.
I was lucky this year. The first prank I came across was concocted between Berkeley Breathed and Bill Watterson showing an aged Mr. Watterson happily signing the rights to Calvin and Hobbes over to Mr. Breathed. (in 2017 he did it again) Given the political year we are having right now, I don’t even think this development is beyond possibility. Comic artists. They never stop having fun, do they?
I’m taking my lucky break and running with it. Count me out for the rest of the day. I will be hiding in my living room with the lights down low, the wifi turned off and the router unplugged, watching reruns of Gilligan’s Island like Opus has been for awhile now. Somebody slide a note under the door when it is April the second so that I will know it is safe to pay attention again? I’d really appreciate it.
As I was driving and listening to my usual podcasts later that day I nearly crashed the truck yelling “bullshit!” at the news that the EU was banning CO2 from all sodas and champagne in an effort to reduce global warming. Even away from Facebook and the internet I could not escape the japes.
Then there was the news that April Fools day inspires the usually complacent to check the veracity of the news on April first before just believing it. Frankly I doubt that is true. I’ve seen far too many people believing ridiculous things lately, even on April first. Pretty sure that one was an April Fool’s joke.
In the end I’ve be forced to the conclusion that I will have to embrace April Fool’s day. The Chinese government issued a warning that jokes on April the first would not be tolerated because:
“’April Fools’ Day’ is not consistent with our cultural tradition, or socialist core values,” state news agency Xinhua announced on social media Friday. “Hope nobody believes in rumors, makes rumors or spreads rumors.”
wapo
It is actually against the law to tell falsehoods in public in China. Literally no jokes allowed. While I loath misinformation myself, anything that pisses the Chinese government off is something we should probably have more of right now. So pass me those paper fish and some tape. I have some April Fish to fry.
