Bad idea?

July 29, 2013 2:42 PM

A friend who lives in suburban Scotland and likes to share funny, absurd and plain weird stuff recently sent me this link. I would really like to send him this exact postcard now as a prank. But would it get him into trouble?

In my country nobody would bat an eyelid. But in the UK?

posted by Omnomnom to Law & Government (17 answers total)

Sorry to be a killjoy, but another question to contemplate is whether it might cause unnecessary concern to the mail carrier who is fighting his or her unknown battles, trying to get through the day with minimal drama. I've never been a mail carrier but I'm sure they all have nuts/unpleasant people on their routes. I'm sure your friend is an obvious paragon, but still.
posted by Morrigan at 2:56 PM on July 29, 2013 [12 favorites]

I don't think it's EVER a good idea to joke around about killing some third party who is not in on the joke. Regardless of the country. Please don't.
posted by Unified Theory at 2:56 PM on July 29, 2013 [16 favorites]

Response by poster: Yeah. I know him, so to me it seems an preposterous idea but I guess the post man might take it seriously and I wouldn't want that.

I guess I could send it to him in an envelope, adding that I just can't do
it for real?
posted by Omnomnom at 3:07 PM on July 29, 2013

Why would you want to freak out a post officer like that? Laugh at your own joke, then think of a new one.
posted by oceanjesse at 3:20 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

People have been killed by their mail. Not a joke.
posted by oceanjesse at 3:22 PM on July 29, 2013 [5 favorites]

Yeah, maybe retweet it and have a laugh, but I don't think this is a good idea in any country.
posted by third word on a random page at 3:52 PM on July 29, 2013

Can you change the message so it won't get anyone reported to the police.

"Are you still in love with your postman?"
"Has the Viagra and/or Hemorrhoid cream helped with your problem?"
"How are you dealing with your house-arrest?"
posted by cazoo at 3:55 PM on July 29, 2013 [19 favorites]

Yeah, bad idea. If you must send a post card, try something along the lines of:

Hey Friend, I thought the tweet you sent me was funny, the one saying: If you do one thing today, send a postcard to a friend which reads "Do you still plan to kill your postman?"

I was going to do that, but, hey, you would understand it was a joke but your postman might not. I would hate for him to pre-emptively kill you as the punchline.
posted by Michele in California at 4:23 PM on July 29, 2013 [3 favorites]

If you're set on doing it, perhaps you could write it in mirror image?
posted by jaksemas at 4:39 PM on July 29, 2013

Definitely seconding Cazoo's answer! I'm the middle of three brothers, so believe me when I say that good pranks are about imagination, upping the ante and doing the unexpected. Sending a postcard with the exact same text your friend sent to you is kinda predictable and lame, to be honest. On the other hand, sending a postcard saying, "How are things going with the postman crush? Have you asked him out yet?" - pure comedy gold.

PLEASE DO IT.
posted by matthew.alexander at 4:53 PM on July 29, 2013 [4 favorites]

> On the other hand, sending a postcard saying, "How are things going with the postman crush? Have you asked him out yet?" - pure comedy gold.

On the plus side: Not as bad as talking about killing the postman.

On the minus side: Still a shitty thing to do. Why do people think it's fun to drag innocent third parties into their stupid pranks? If you want to send your friend a prank postcard, please do so in a way that does not involve the postman at all. I would think this would be obvious, but apparently it needs to be said.
posted by languagehat at 4:58 PM on July 29, 2013 [21 favorites]

People have been killed by their mail. Not a joke.

Postal workers have been killed by the mail.

In my country nobody would bat an eyelid.

Are the postal workers in your country government employees? I'm genuinely curious which country wouldn't bat an eyelid at this.
posted by Room 641-A at 5:36 PM on July 29, 2013 [2 favorites]

Bad idea.
posted by trip and a half at 12:17 AM on July 30, 2013

Bad idea. The UK has a recent track record of taking stupid, obvious jokes seriously and prosecuting people.
posted by MuffinMan at 12:26 AM on July 30, 2013 [1 favorite]

The first funny, harmless prank I can think of regarding the postal worker would be to write out the postcard I the form of a cheque for say, £1000 payable from your friend to the postal worker. That may hit the spot.
posted by ambrosen at 1:09 AM on July 30, 2013

Very bad idea, although I know some 8 year olds who might think this was hilarious.
posted by epo at 1:20 AM on July 30, 2013 [2 favorites]

What if you sent a postcard saying, "So...are you?" No stress to the unsuspecting postal worker, but still carrying on the joke.
posted by epj at 7:28 AM on July 30, 2013