National Don't Trust Anyone Day

I spent at least part of last night trying to think of a good joke, a good lie I could tell the world, just to see how many people believe me, but then I decided against it. I'm not big into practical jokes, and, since it's raining, I doubt most people would be in the mood to be lied to, so I figured I'd just sit this year out. Besides, sometimes I tell stories and such anyway, just to keep my creativity on its feet. Ask me to define a word I don't know, and I'll probably make something up on the spot. Of course, I'll tell the truth afterward, once I've seen what my mind came up with.

An example of this is that, while discussing the political situation in the Ukraine, which greatly involve the peninsula Crimea, there was a certain amount of uncertainty about how the name of the peninsula was pronounced. I said that it was pronounced with a long I, a long E, and an a that sounded like "uh." "Like the river," I had said. My friend remarked that he had never heard of the "Cry Me A" River, until I laughed and explained my joke. The trouble was that, after explaining my pun, my friend didn't believe me when I told him that that was honestly how I thought the name of the peninsula was pronounced.

The lesson we can learn from this, and from practical jokes, is that dishonesty breeds distrust. And we now have a holiday where, for about 12 hours, nobody really trusts anyone. Some people might say that that's not a bad thing. People should be on their toes and using their heads, and making sure that they're not being fooled. Doubtless, there are thousands of untrustworthy people in the world, and it might just save your life to not be too trusting. While I agree with that on the level of safety, I also think that this holiday is silly.

I don't think it actually makes people safer, because as soon as April 1st is over, people will let their guard down again. I also don't think that practical jokes are harmless, because they often lead to hurt feelings, and can shatter a person's reputation for being honest, kind, and trustworthy. It has all of the disadvantages on the personal level, and none of the advantages on a societal level. All in all, I think that playing jokes on people, even in the name of harmless fun, is a bad idea. Maybe that means I should stop "humorously," intentionally mis-defining words.