Thoughts on April 1st

I'm not a big April Fool's Day prankster. My wife has pulled of a few good ones in the past; and I have sometimes provided some help in wording and/or initial idea, but for some reason I don't ever think of ones that involve myself.  Also, at this point I don't think I could really pull them on my children.  One of them wouldn't even know what is going on, and the other takes things so literally that he doesn't get the idea of a practical joke yet.

But this does raise a question (note: it does not beg a question) for me. Why do we pull pranks on people in the first place? I feel like the purpose of pranks is to make people look foolish, silly, and/or stupid. I have realized for a long time that I am not a fan of schadenfreude. Laughing at other people's misfortunes is not for me. People who know me in real life can also attest that I'm not really a fan of sitcoms because much of the humor is derived from people being in awkward situations. I wouldn't want to be in that situation, why would I laugh at somebody who is in that situation?

It may very well be that I don't know how to take a joke. When I look at what I do find funny, I gravitate toward puns, some physical comedy, and general silliness. Perhaps interestingly, I'm typically not good at crafting the type of humor I enjoy.

I often tell people that I don't enjoy movies or TV shows with plot. However, I can watch documentaries, sports, stand-up comedy, and game shows very easily. I seem to have a dislike for tension build-up. Unfortunately, tension build-up seems to be a requirement for drama. This is in no way a criticism of drama, as obviously people have enjoyed it for thousands of years, but more of an introspective on myself.

This dislike for tension, of course, generates tension of its own. A common social activity is to watch a movie, either in the theater or on a couch at home. If I am always against watching movies, that doesn't bode well for interacting well socially, and this has created problems in the past, and will likely cause problems in the future.

Maybe I'll come to appreciate tension build-up, hoaxes, pranks, and the like. Maybe I'm just a fool.