April 1, 2005
Crystal came into my office at about 9:30 and begged me to tell Mike Melrose that the Brinks have decided they don't want their new office and he will need to move back into his old space by this afternoon. I told her this was too mean and I couldn't do it. Mike had vacated his old office last week and has just gotten settled in his new space in the common area where the salespeople work. When I resisted, Crystal tried to get Carole to do it, but she also thought it was too mean.

Crystal persisted and told me that Mike is mean and would do it to them if he had the chance. For some reason this rang true to me and convinced me (Hey, no wonder she sells so many ads!). In about ten minutes, Mike came around the corner and I walked up to him as serious as I could and said, "I have some bad news. The Brinks are not going to use your old office after all, and I need you to move back in there by this afternoon." Mike looked suspicious, but he finally took the bait. "Was I too loud?" he said, which just broke my heart. Melrose has been concerned his booming voice would create problems in the common area "I don’t know," I said, fighting back my tears and a smile with all my being, "You better talk to Crystal. She talked to the Brinks and knows what the problem is." Mike and I went over to Crystal’s cubicle. "What did they say?" Mike wanted to know. Crystal reiterated that he is too loud, and then I added, "They said something else, Mike." He looked at me, expecting the worst. "They said, 'April Fools!'"

Melrose laughed heartily and it was amazing to realize that, had we been serious, he would have moved back in! Amazing. A great attitude and a funny April Fools joke. I need to be on guard now (I actually didn't even realize it was April Fools day until Crystal told me).

"A fool and his honey are soon parted."
—Old Vaquero Saying