Prank/Counterprank

From an unnamed university in the greater San Francisco Bay Area...

Okay they're finally stepping it up a little. As I've mentioned before, the guys in the office next door often treat our office like a hallway (as do many other people), so we often see them passing through 5-6 times per day. Yesterday around 3:30 they left together (in matching blazers, no less), we presumed for their afternoon buddy snack, which usually consists of Mexican Coke (glass bottle, no high fructose corn syrup) and some kind of trail mix/Slim Jim type item from the nearby market.

When they returned, instead of breezing through our office as per usual, they sat down on our couch and start playing with their new iPad. They watched video, looked at books, and discussed its features as if they were on the couch in their office.

But they didn't know who they were messing with. We had our Noriega playlist all set up (thanks friends!). So I just started playing Baha Men after Venga Boys after Chumbawumba in an attempt to wear down their resistance, but they hung tough (dammit! I didn't think to play any New Kids!) until we left at 5:00pm.

Our students were very confused when they would come in looking for a form or to ask a question, because not only did they see the guys next door on our couch, but we were also blasting "The Macarena" at top volume. One them walked in and did a double take when she saw the guys on our couch. "What do you need?" I asked. "I need...to....talk...to...them?" "Great, come on in, we're doing our office hours here today," they said.

Touche, gentlemen.

Granted, this prank required virtually no preparation or dastardly collaboration with outsiders, and was quite likely born in the moment, but we liked it anyway. As we were leaving for the day, we acknowledged our competitors for their fine effort, like tennis players after a hard match.

"Thanks guys; that was pretty good."
"How did you have all that music ready?"
"We've been planning to Noriega you for awhile."
"NORIEGA! I was trying to remember who had that done to him. Panama, right?"
"Yes. Those songs are really bad, huh?"
"Actually, I was thinking those were all songs I secretly liked but never admit to liking in public."

DAMN!