No Foolin’

Monday was April Fools Day and the topic for storytelling this week is “Fool me once”. I have “ fool”  on my mind and a few questions.  “Why Do Fools Fall In Love? and “What Does A Fool Believe?”. Is “Chain Of Fools” really just the Hokey Pokey for grownups? Am I on “The Ship Of Fools”or am I “ The Fool On The Hill”? Are these foolish questions waiting for foolish answers? Alas, even with all my years of life experiences “Duh!” is often the best I can come up with. Fool me once, twice, three times into infinity…

So how does the dictionary define “fool”?

fool: a. a person who lacks good sense or judgement : a stupid or silly person;  b. a  harmlessly deranged person  (Is there really a deranged person who is  harmless?); c: see Danita

Would you think I was fooling you if I told you there is a Raspberry fool and a strawberry fool? No foolin’! A dessert made with cooked fruit of your choice and cream or a thick sauce  is also called a “fool”. Next April Fool’s Day, take an Oreo cookie, scrape out the filling and replace it with a big squirt of toothpaste and reassemble . Wait for a “fool” to come along and take a big bite of the cookie so you can exclaim “April Fool”! This is a whole new kind of dessert.

I applaud  Odessa, a city in Ukraine for making April Fool’s Day a holiday, hence more time to prank, and another day off is never a foolish move. Why do we like to prank or play jokes on other people. Nobody wants to admit they are the “Butt of the joke”? Does my butt look big in this joke?  Usually it is better to be the pranker than be the prankee. I’ve had 2 surprise birthday parties in my life,  and had a wonderful time at both, but some people hate surprise birthday parties.

I’m a  bit of a cynic and it seems to me that pranks or cons can be more of a “Gotcha!” moment or delivering someone their “ comeuppance”. For example, back in the day when perms were a thing, I went to a salon to get a perm. I was excited and looking forward to getting curly hair,  comeuppance was not on my radar.  What I got was a fried Afro! The hairdresser was the best friend of a woman who felt I had stolen her boyfriend.  Pretty funny to them, not so much for me. The remedy was to get my hair cut short, but my revenge was sweet because everyone loved my new short haircut.

Ironically I was fooled  big time when a group of friends and I were  listening to “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by the Who. Headphones on for me, rockin’ and singing along to the song. Everyone else was listening and singing along too…I thought. It was silent in the room and I was the only one singing along! I can only imagine how bad I sang and how stupid I sounded. Moral of the story—make sure you are not being fooled listening to “Won’t Get Fooled Again”.

In the arena of love I’ve been the fool who waits for you. Nothing ambiguous with the song title “Lovefool” by the Cardigans. I  love the groups name and  can just see them in their cardigans…. These are lyrics for love songs for fools:

Love me, love me

Say that you love me

Fool me, fool me

Go on and fool me. 

Or:

You make me feel like a fool

Waiting for you

You make me feel like a fool

Waiting for you

How many romances have I had that existed only in my head? I could have written the Doobie Brothers song “What a Fool Believes” because I lived it.

Let’s just say I have a vivid imagination, the hell with reality. The more vulnerable I am, the more gullible I am. My college boyfriend stuck a bright yellow sticker on the back of my coat that said “Used”, and I walked around all day with that sticker on . A snarky frat boy kindly pointed it out to me on the bus. It took me days to finally tell said boyfriend what an asshole he was. He didn’t agree with me, but some people are just plain fools.

I love the Oscar winning movie, “The Sting”, an elaborate con set up to sting the bad guys and deliver their comeuppance. I  respect an intelligent con as long as the ending is satisfying. Leonardo DiCaprio played a shameless con artist in  “Catch Me If You Can”, based on fact.  Among other things,  he impersonated a doctor and an airline pilot. Fortunately, no one died as a result of his schemes. Outside of the movies,  to believe something that is false and full of malignant  misinformation is risky business. Conspiracy theories are nothing more than a con artist targeting fools, because he/she wants them to believe what they are told to believe. I like to think I engage my brain to evaluate information, but I also assume the best of other people. I  prefer to live that way. Giving people the benefit of the doubt means that sometimes my trust is misplaced, but positive expectations are healthier for me. 

Sooner or later you and I will be fooled again. In the meantime, would you like to go snipe hunting or cow tipping? Come on it’s fun!  Hold this bag and we will shoo the snipes towards the bag and you be ready to get them. Remember to put some might behind your shove to tip the cow over. Come on it’s fun!