The Office Playground Blog

Bad Chips and Dip

It's ok to admit that you don't like all of your co-workers. There always seems to be certain people who are geniuses at irritating you. Would you like to learn a surefire way to get them to leave you alone? Serve them bad dip. Here's how it works:

The Preparation
Start with some basic ingredients used for making a tasty dip: sour cream, salsa, plain yogurt, guacamole or cream cheese will do. Next, add some not-so-tasty ingredients like pickle juice, suicidal hot sauce, cod liver oil, grape jelly, etc. At this point, most recipes instruct you to season to taste. Well, you sure as heck aren't going to taste this stuff. So, go heavy on the bad ingredients to be sure the dip tastes really, really horrible.

The Placement
Neatly display the bad dip in your work area along with some chips. The chips don't have to be bad, but using stale chips would be a nice touch. Now, you wait for annoying co-workers to approach.

The Payoff
Those little mooches will soon come around looking for the free food. They always do. They'll slither up, sniffing and eyeballing your snacks. They will ask you for some. With a big smile you nod your head. Don't feel guilty. After all, you didn't offer it to your co-workers. They sought you out. Cherish the precious payoff when they take that huge reckless bite of bad dip.

The Act
As the targeted co-worker begins to chew their first bite, they will recoil from the horrible flavors attacking their taste buds. When they say, "AGH! THAT'S AWFUL," you burst into tears, grab the dip and yell, "That's my grandma's recipe!" Then, run to your car and go home for the day.

The Rewards

1. Your obnoxious co-workers will never come around again.
2. You get a free half-day off work.
   (Maybe you should watch some cooking shows.)
3. You'll never need to make food for the office again.
4. Everyone will be extra nice to you for a while.

Make some bad dip and watch your lame co-workers eat it. It'll make you laugh.

Bad dip making is just one more tool in your corporate survival toolbox.

Sincerely,

Bill Ross
The Office Toy Guy
OfficeToyGuy@OfficePlayground.com

www.OfficePlayground.com
We help you play on company time.

Image courtesy of Megan Soh.

Stealing Food at Work

The purpose of this blog post is not to endorse stealing your co-worker's lunch. We are simply offering advice on how to be successful at it.

Times are tough and your company is cutting back; it's up to you to create your own perks. Stealing your co-worker's lunch is wrong, but you're not likely going to go to jail if you get caught.

Speed – You can't linger around in the kitchen. Get in and get out. The ideal kitchen or break room has two doors. You should enter through one, snatch a free snack, and exit through the other.

Greed – Don't kill the goose that laid the golden egg. Don't steal food every day or from the same person over and over. We understand that certain people have better food than others, but exercise restraint.

Mix it up – If you work in a large company, spread out your efforts across all kitchens, break rooms, conference rooms, reception desks (free fruit or candy), etc. By spreading out, it'll be hard to identify the totality of your work.

Redirects – Once in a while, bring your own lunch and put it in the refrigerator with your name written on the bag. Your co-workers will think "the lunch thief can't be him, he brings his own." Little do they know you're just that hungry that you'll eat yours AND theirs. If the office is on to you, you can secretly eat half of your sandwich and then make a big scene, "HEY, WHO ATE MY SANDWICH!"

Image courtesy of Stacita.

How Scary is Your Office?

It’s the time of year where ghosts, witches and goblins are making plans for their favorite day of the year, Halloween. Have you let them visit your desk yet?

Halloween isn’t just for children dressed as spooky (or sometimes adorable) creatures, going door-to-door asking for candy; you can have just as much fun at work! This year, bring the spirit of Halloween to the office. Here are some ideas for making your workplace "spooktacular"!

• Decorate your desk or cubicle walls with a row full of smiling pumpkins
• Host a number of spooky Halloween contests: Scariest Costume, Jack-o-Lantern Carving, Pumpkin Seed Spitting, and Best Decorated Desk
• Hide fake giant spiders in your co-workers’ desk drawers
• Ask each of your co-workers "Trick or Treat?" Give those who say "treat" a piece of candy; pull a fun office prank on everyone else
• Host a Halloween Fright Wind-Up race
• Bring a large bowl of Halloween candy to share or bake a batch of Halloween cookies

Adding a little Halloween spirit to your workplace can make your day a little more exciting and everyone a little happier. Try out some of our ideas and let us know how it goes!

Image courtesy of Elvia Dametto.

April Fools' Jokes in the Office

April Fools' Day is less than a month away and some of us at Office Playground wondered if pranks are appropriate for the workplace. Our research says yes—within reason. Practical jokes add fun and excitement to long, stressful days at work. When there's more work to do and less people to do it, stress relief is essential for keeping sanity. However, be aware of the potential consequences of playing jokes in a professional setting. The target of the prank, and your boss, should have a sense of humor; you wouldn't want to lose your job just for some laughs.

Pamela J. Holland, the COO of BRODY Professional Development, gave Entrepreneur these additional tips for pulling pranks at work:

• Make sure it doesn't embarrass someone or cause disruption in the workplace.
• Think through all possible consequences of the joke.
• Don't use April Fools' Day as an opportunity to "get back" at someone you don't like.
• What's OK to do at home with family or friends may not be appropriate for the workplace.
• If your boss is the subject of your prank, be extremely careful. You need to know this person extremely well, understand their sense of humor and never do anything that would diminish your boss's authority.

Several well-known organizations, including Entrepreneur, Forbes, Monster and MSNBC all have web pages or articles dedicated to office prank ideas and tips.

We found dozens of practical joke ideas out there. Here are some of the most extreme office pranks:

(image credit: baraskit.se)	(image credit: cubejinx)	(image credit: Dan)
(image credit: Daryl Fox)	(image credit: Unknown)	(image credit: Matt Reinbold)

To take practical jokes down a notch, try out some of our ideas. Create an infestation of Wind-Up Mice, Squishimal Spiders or Mutant Flies in your neighbor’s cubicle. A few Stretchy Snakes around the office could do the job as well. Some of us here at the Playground have put several Bozo Bop Bags in front of a co-worker’s cubicle after she left the office for the day; she came back to a wall of giant clowns guarding her desk. For a simple and traditional practical joke, you can’t go wrong with the Self Inflating Whoopee Cushion or the Remote Controlled Whoopee Cushion.

If you’re looking to reduce stress and have some laughs, office pranks can be a fun idea, but only if they are done right. With some careful planning, and perhaps a secret nod of approval from your boss, manager or co-worker you’ll be having fun in the office on April Fools’ Day. Just be sure to use common sense!