Laughter. I for one love a good laugh and all that comes along with it; the crazy gasps for breath and those tears that well up, that overall sensation of euphoria. As much as I love to laugh (even though I have a bit of an obnoxious giggle) I do have a simple problem with one thing: pranks.

I can understand a harmless joke at someone’s expense, but when it comes down to tricking people or being deceitful and destructive, there is something wrong. Forgive me, but I don’t think trespassing or destruction of property is funny. If someone buys a pumpkin, I feel I have no right to smash it. If someone has a nice big tree in their front yard, I don’t want to bind it by tee peeing. Call me square or call me boring, but to me it’s a matter of respect.
Pranks bring about more harm than good. Next time, put yourself in someone else’s shoes before you fork a yard or soap a window. Just think for a second about how that person might feel the next morning. I’ve heard plenty of stories about kids waking up to find their trees tee peed and having to spend the day cleaning it up. Funny or not, there is no appropriate time for pranks.

Whoever said pranks are juvenile is sadly mistaken. Pranks are an awesome way to have a good time with friends. Sure, some people take them too far, but does that mean all pranksters are horrible? I don’t think so.
I think throwing toilet paper through the trees, instant mashed potatoes on the driveway and plastic forks in yards are just little ways to show our friends we care. So in turn, if they care about us, they return the favor and we laugh about it. Then we clean it up and we’re on our merry way. It’s a harmless way to get some kicks and giggles on the weekends.
It’s also a time-honored tradition around the time of Halloween to be mischievous. It’s all in the nature of the holiday to joke around, and pranks are just jokes. Granted, rubber banding the sprayer nozzle down on the sink to soak your mom when she turns on the faucet probably isn’t the best idea. But, when it’s all in good humor and no one gets hurt, what’s the problem?