When I was a young teen, say 12 or 13, I used to get a kick out of playing pranks on my family. Pranks like refilling the empty milk carton with water. My father was not amused by that. But who couldn't see the humor in a entire bowl of breakfast cereal wasted? Sigh.
My very best prank was on my mom. Every morning my mom had to have her infusion of caffeine. Same time every day, same routine. Pull a cup down from the shelf, pour in her coffee, take out the sugar bowl and scoop from the centre of the bowl. I watched her do this morning after morning and found it interesting that she always scooped her sugar from exactly the same spot every morning.
One morning I decided to swap out the sugar for salt. She came into the kitchen, reached up for her coffee cup, poured in her coffee, took the sugar bowl out and scooped her scoop from the centre of the sugar bowl. She stirred her coffee and took a sip. I was sitting at the breakfast table working impossibly hard to keep a straight face. Mom got a horrified look on her face and bellowed "who put salt in the sugar bowl?" I concentrated very hard on my bowl of cereal and muttered that I had no idea who would do such a thing. Mom then licked the tip of her finger and dipped it into the sugar bowl to confirm the crime I imagine. Then a very puzzled expression came over her face. She tasted her coffee again and then tasted the sugar bowl again. "What is going on?" she cried. For you see, I had only put a single teaspoon of salt into the sugar bowl.
I used the teaspoon she used for her coffee every morning and measured out exactly one teaspoon of salt. And I placed it exactly in the centre of the sugar bowl where I knew, from watching her day after day, she would scoop her sugar from. Her precision from practice of this ritual on a daily basis meant that she would get exactly and only that scoop of salt in the sugar bowl.
I never admitted to it. Part of what makes this prank so perfect is that she had no idea how the salt got into her coffee. Telling her that it was a prank would ruin it. I secretly imagined her telling people how the sugar in our sugar bowl mysteriously turned into salt when it touched her coffee.
Over 30 years have gone by and I still giggle about this every time I think of it. As far as I know, to this day she does not know what happened nor that it was me who did it. I suppose if she ever reads this, the truth will be out but somehow it won't be as funny anymore. The prank is perfect because she never knew what happened that day.
