When I first went to Wall Street, I heard a story, supposedly true, about a practical joke one guy on a trading desk played on another.
The first guy had a friend pretend to be the the Fire Department Chief in his colleague's hometown in Connecticut. The friend phoned up his colleague, who was vacationing in Maine, and informed him that his house in Connecticut had burned down.
The second guy then packed up his family and drove all the way back to Connecticut, his kids crying the entire time. When he got there, he saw that his house was fine.
To get revenge, the second guy hired an construction company to excavate the first guy's entire front lawn, and dump all the dirt on his driveway.
I was told the story by a guy who worked at that firm, and knew the guys firsthand.
It's the kind of story that, when you first hear it, makes you laugh with semi-delighted horror. But when you really think about it, it takes a special kind of guy to pull a stunt like the first guy's. (I don't blame the second guy for doing what he did.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
I would liken it to the difference between a prank and a trick. A trick would seem to involve deceit and malice while a prank is intended (though not always to the recipient) to be light hearted fun. In any case, I would probably beat down the first guy for doing that.
Arthur --
Agreed, that first guy definitely deserved a beatdown, especially since it involved his entire family.
Post a Comment