Every day is fool’s day nowadays

Pranks are not my thing. In fact, I quite detest pranksters, especially the ones who call up ordinary folk like you and me and spin tales that make our blood boil, and think it’s funny.

I don’t know about you but for me, there’s nothing funny about anger.

With that said, I must confess that April Fool’s Day is one of my favourites. It’s the one day when the foolishness seems to take on an exquisite subtlety. Especially in the media, it’s a day of fun and tomfoolery – without the rage.

This year, there were quite a number of jewels. I loved the story about bottled air from Sweden going on sale in Britain so that every Englishman and woman can “breathe like a Swede”.

The exclusive about Prince Harry’s vegan stag party was cute. Yoga and yoghurt isn’t quite the thing when it comes to a traditional bachelor party. But then Harry never was much of a traditionalist. Rumour has it the queen was so impressed with her grandson that he has decided to do exactly that. Ping!

Here in sunny South Africa, I was totally blown away by the story – with photographic evidence – of an elephant carrying a lion cub on its trunk. April Fool’s Africa style. All hail to the creator of that one.

Of course, there’s always the odd chance that some poor fellow might get dragged hook, line and sinker into the foolery, so a hint is always a good idea. This year, reporter Polo Frail wins that prize.

Too far-fetched was the announcement that US President Donald Trump was quitting Twitter. Like really?

So the fun has been had and the “gotcha!” has echoed infinitely across the world.

We’ve toasted our foolish successes and laughed with – not at – our hapless victims – being victims ourselves.

But where does that leave us?

Truth of the matter is that there’s no single fool’s day. In the space and time we live in, every single day is fool’s day.

Daily, we are bombarded with the biggest load of bulldust imaginable.

Whether we call it pranks, a hoax or even fake news – oh the horror! – the fact remains that we tend to slurp up gobbledygook.

So next time you read something unbelievable, remember this: it probably is.

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