Thursday, December 10, 2009

Gullible

When I used to work in the business world, I once worked with a secretary who was… ahem… very blonde.  She believed everything anyone told her.  Everything.

One day, some of the guys I worked with convinced her that ‘gullible’ was not a word.  She hesitated because she had been made the fool so many times.  Finally, she looked it up in the dictionary where she should have found her picture.

Sometimes, I think about Secretary McFluffy when dealing with certain children. 

In the past, I convinced my students that the first of each month was that month’s Fool’s Day.  You know… January Fool’s Day… October Fool’s Day.  I told them that for some reason only April Fool’s Day was the one that stuck and became popular.  We played jokes on each other at the first of every month for the entire school year.  When it was April 1st, I told them the truth.  It was the ultimate April Fool’s Day joke. 

Those students were extremely gullible.

Apparently, so am I.

The other day, one of the secretaries came running into my office in a panic about some man on the phone who was insisting he get directions to the school so he could deliver the 100 pounds of shrimp we had ordered.

I picked up on line one while stammering and stuttering to him that no one had ordered any shrimp.  He insisted he had 100 pounds of shrimp to deliver and he’d need to pick up a check.

Turns out he was the husband of one of the secretaries.  I should have known they were up to something.

Does it surprise you to know that I am blonde?

33 comments:

rxBambi said...

1. I love the joke you played on the students. classic!!! Of course, you can never do it again :)
2. That is too funny about the shrimp. But who was the butt of the joke? You, or the secretary? Funny either way.

Aunt Juicebox said...

Did you know if you say the word "gullible" very slowly, it sounds like "green beans"?

Laura Marchant said...

I am going to have to remember that joke! That's awesome!

Rosaria Williams said...

Oh, you pulled our leg for a whole post! You're some blonde!

justsomethoughts... said...

that was funny
think of all the things you could have made with so much shrimp...

Fragrant Liar said...

I didn't get it. Is it because I am blonde?

Mike said...

Hey, your shoe is untied! Made you look! LOL!Thanks for visiting Santa!

Herding Cats said...

I love the joke you pulled on your students! I may borrow it someday. I have some very gullible students...

Smart Mouth Broad said...

Oh dear, Beth. I think we are sisters from another mister separated at birth. I am the butt of many jokes because I fall for EVERYTHING. It's because we're so pure of heart and all.

Liz Mays said...

Payback! I love that they got ya!

mo.stoneskin said...

Superb. I'm making notes to try that some time soon.

cheatymoon said...

Cute. :-)

Anonymous said...

ha! they got you good!

Deb said...

YES! it actually TOTALLY surprises me that you are blonde. now i have to rework my little image of you in my head!

in your defense, i would have fallen for that joke too, and i am not blonde.

i like to tease and be teased. i think it keeps you grounded and connected to people, in a weird way.

Brian Miller said...

lol. they got you good...though 100 pounds of shrimp would have made for a great school lunch! thanks for the chuckles.

The Peach Tart said...

You gotta love a good practical joke regardless of your hair color.

Unknown said...

I admit, you got me and I'm only blonde from a bottle! Love the monthly fool's day with the kids, they must have gotten a real kick out of that; very creative Beth!

The best blonde incident I ever encountered is the secretary who had tied a knot in the cord of her Selective typewriter... because, she told the repairman who asked, she couldn't type so well and she needed to slow it down.

Unknown said...

Forgot to mention that this is totally TRUE... I worked with her!

Masala Chica said...

I can't wait to hear how you will enact your revenge. I bet its gonna be juicy! (like those shrimp ;))

CiCi said...

Sounds like your secretaries know you are a good sport enough that they can play tricks on you and get a laugh. Makes for a much more fun work environment. Fourteen more days till Christmas, hope you and all the teachers and secretaries are enjoying the holiday season.

Optimistic Pessimist said...

i love practical jokes!

Lori said...

Such fun! I love having fun like this. I will have to remember this one!

Carma Sez said...

Ha Ha - good for them!

Aunt Becky said...

Bwahahahahaha! That's awesome. You SO deserved it.

Kulio said...

haha!! Good for you for creating a climate of easyness in your office - it must be great to work for you :-)

Michel said...

HA! that is fab! Are you hiring?! Wait. I'm not qualified.

and, yes...it actually DOES surprise me to find out you are blonde. I totally saw you as a brunette or someone with metal-squiggly hair (from your hubby's statue-thing he made of you).

Chris said...

NEVER joke by telling someone you're bringing shrimp and then not bringing it. That's just cruel.

Pearl said...

When I was little we lived in a trailer. Minnesota gets really, really cold in the winter; and there was a time that the plumbing froze and my dad was forced to crawl under the trailer with a hair dryer, trying to unfreeze the pipes. My sister convinced me that if I looked down the toilet, I would be able to see Dad...
Yeah.

Pearl

Jason said...

This is a great site you have here. I just found it from a friend's page. I have a humor blog as well and I'd like to exchange links with you. This will spread some traffic around between us. Let me know if this is cool.

Jason
HilariousHeadlines TALK

k said...

wow -they are ALL about pranks in your office huh? At least it's a fun work environment!! :)

H.K. said...

That is hilarious convincing your students that every month was fool's day month. And I'm not a blonde, but I'm gullible too and I've been told that I must have some blonde roots buried deep inside my head full of black hair.

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