No April Fool

I dislike April Fool's Day. I never liked it as a child and I certainly do not like it now, not when we as a nation have become a bunch of mean-spirited fruitcakes who don't mind upsetting or scaring other people, even the ones we love.

It ranks right up there with being pinched on St. Patrick's Day because I am not wearing green.

Sure, sometimes it is fun to pull an interesting prank. The Great Smokey Mountains site today put up a page that says they are bringing polar bears into the park. That is kind of funny and a unique hoax, but gullible people believe it; I've already seen folks get upset about it on Facebook.

One of our local radio stations always pulls a prank. Once they said the city was going to sell one of our local landmarks, and for hours I listened to irate people call in. Whether they were playing the "game" or actually believed the "news," I do not know.

I have a great sense of humor, people tell me. It is rather sardonic and can be sarcastic and sometimes you might need to pay attention to actually get what I'm saying. Witty is a word someone used to describe me not long ago. I love a good joke as much as anyone; I think Monty Python is hilarious, and Big Bang Theory makes me laugh every week.

My friends always find me amusing; I have been known to make good friends snort water during lunches (not intentionally, really).

But these days many people are mean. Someone posted a list of things *not* to do on Facebook today - here it is:

Really? We have to remind people not to do this stuff, ever, as a joke? It is one thing to tell someone their shoes are untied and make them look down (ha ha) but quite another to call your best friend and tell her you've decided to kill yourself. Good grief. That is not a joke. That's a formula for an immediate phone call to 911.

I do not find cruelty funny. I am not a fan of slap stick (I suppose the Three Stooges will never amuse me) because I don't find physical or mental pain "fun." I find the people who impose pain upon others to be sick human beings, actually, who probably need to be put away (and they certainly shouldn't own a gun).

So go ahead and make your jokes; tell me I have dirt on my pants, or my hair is standing straight up, I have a smudge on my cheek. But don't be mean and cruel. Don't hurt people's feelings.

Be kind, always.

Even on April Fool's Day.