Day 1: A as in April Fools Day --- a Debate Topic

And let me start off by making something perfectly clear:

The Blogging From A to Z Challenge is Not an April Fools Joke!

        I just wanted to get that out right away lest anybody fear I was a practical joker.  When I came up with the idea for the Challenge I wondered if anybody would take it seriously or would they think I was joking. Fortunately it didn't hinder anybody that I know of and I am so glad that we have so many great participants.

         For those of you unfamiliar with Tossing It Out, each Thursday is "Debate Day".  I pose a question, give a few arguments for one side or both sides, and then leave it to readers to tell me what they think.  Sometimes we get into some pretty heavy topics and other times, like today, the topics are relatively light.
Here is the question for today:

April Fools Day jokes-- are they fun or do they annoy you?

           I suppose one of the things that annoys me more than being tricked on April Fools Day is being pinched on St. Patrick's Day.  When I was a kid I was always very careful to wear green on March 17 because I was in mortal fear of being pinched.  And I don't really enjoy being the butt of an April Fools joke either. A common one that I recall as a kid was being told that my fly was down and naturally I would look and be assailed with a loud attention-getting cry of "April Fool".  I'd fall for it every time.  The receiving end of any of the April Fools jokes for me was embarrassing because I didn't like being the fool.

          However, I delighted in being the perpetrator of said jokes.  I would wake up in the morning of April First and try to devise totally credible jokes to play on people and get a big charge when I successfully made someone else look like the fool.  It would be fun for a few times, but even for the jokester it soon got old.  April Fools is mostly a morning event.

           When the childish games of April Fools Day start entering the world of adults I begin to have a problem with it.  The co-worker who pulls juvenile pranks at the expense of others is usually inappropriate. When cheap laughs are garnered by the embarrassment of another coworker, the jokestering crosses the line.  I can certainly appreciate a good joke  and visual slapstick humor, but when done to embarrass another person it can make me uncomfortable.

         Frequently, morning radio programs or other media forms will play an April Fools Joke on the audience.  I will admit that at times they are inventive and humorous, but when they actually sound like news it can lead to bad situations.  I can recall hearing something that I thought was true and telling others something that I thought was true.  Credibility of all parties can become damaged and the potential for dangerous results is real.

        There is a list of the 10 worst April Fools Jokes at museum of hoaxes .  And as bad as these are I don't even know if they are the worst.

          For me, the bottom line is April Fools Day is silly childhood fun, but it really doesn't have any place in the adult world.

           What do you think?

Challenge update:
I'm still getting queries about joining the challenge.  Since notice of this challenge only went up last Saturday, many fellow bloggers are just finding out about it, so I'm allowing stragglers to join up until Monday April 5th.

I've been following blogs off the list on my sidebar or when I see them pop up on my Google Reader.  Since this type of communal blog activity is new to me and I'm no computer wiz, I'm not sure what the easiest way to keep track of other blogs is.   I plan to check about the McLinky but have not had time yet.  Hopefully this isn't presenting too much of a problem for anyone.

How do you go about checking what the other participants are doing?  Have you checked any others?  I've looked at 6 posts that have already gone up as of this writing and I have been impressed.  There is some really good stuff out there.  Soon the creativity is really going to flow and you should let others know what you think.

Friday April 2 is the letter B as in Be ready!