Joke's on you: Diaries of SMC students on April 1

I remember smiling over the pieces of sweet licorice I had filled with spicy pepper seeds as I tricked a family friend over for a visit into eating something he would soon regret. I asked if he wanted some and without hesitation, he grabbed the candy and ate it. Never have I ever seen anyone so red in the face, rush over to the kitchen sink in search for water.

Yes, it was April 1, also known as "April Fool's day," the one day where it is socially acceptable to prank anyone at any given time.

While the day for pranksters has lost some of its luster as people have grown older, it has been able to leave some lasting impressions on the lives of certain students.

Here are some experiences from Santa Monica College students who were both prey and predator on the annual day of fools:

“I called my mom and said our house was on fire,” SMC student Samantha Norton said and explained that her joke was not appreciated by her mom. “She got so mad.”

SMC student Christian Flores reserved a special treat for his parents in the bathroom of his own house.

“I covered the toilet seat with tape for my parents,” said Flores, adding that the only thing he could hear after his mom went to the restroom was a loud scream.

SMC student Emelie Retana got quite a scare from her boyfriend last year after he went to the gynecologist. “Unfortunately, I did not think about April 1 when he called me after his visit and said that he had gonorrhea, ” Retana said, explaining her shock until her boyfriend revealed the joke he had pulled.

SMC student Diana Santana originally intended to take a two-hour power nap but received more than she bargained for.

“When I woke up, my brothers and mom said it was the next day,” Santana said. Fearing that she had missed her daily obligations such as school and work, she was relieved to hear it was all a ruse. “The best feeling is when you find out it was a joke."

“When I was working at Rolfs Kök [a restaurant in Sweden], the head chef asked me to go to the restaurant next to ours in order to ask if we could borrow two kilos of vacuum since our restaurant was out if it. Dumb and blond as I was, I went to the restaurant and asked one of the workers there,” SMC international student Sophie Jo Hanson said. “It was so embarrassing.”

With this year's April Fools is already in the books, it is yet to see who had it better or worse for some of us depending on how they handle the trickery. It never hurts to put some shaving cream on a sleeping person's hand and tickle their face a little. It might be too late this year, but it's never too soon to start preparing for the next April Fools.