ABOUT FOOLS'S DAY - A PERSONAL EXPERINCE


APRIL 1:



This day is – as most people know – something very special. According to the tradition you are allowed to cheat people – to pull their legs.  Normally by telling them stories which sound exciting and very interesting. But is far from being true.

I remember a special event, where I personally got into some trouble because of all that – on this very day, April 1.



It was during my time as head of the EU Office in Denmark. It was in the mid 1980ies, and we published a range of publications about what the EU was doing on many fronts.  It was well before the time of the internet, so the printed word was still one of our main instruments.



One year in the run-up to April 1 we couldn’t resist the temptation to make a bit of fun. In one of our bulletins we wrote the following story:



EU’s department for environment has as one of its main tasks to ensure that people of all kinds have the possibility to enjoy our fantastic nature.  This is also the case for the nudists. Therefore, the EU has given permission to build a nudist camp on the Beach of Tisvilde, one of the most popular beaches north of Copenhagen.  And to support it the EU has also decided to give a substantial grant to a nice fence around the camp.



Our bulletin was sent out, also to the whole Danish press.  Within a day or two hell broke loose.  An editor of one of the Danish national newspapers, Aktuelt, was fuming. She wrote that she was normally a strong supporter of what EU was doing, also in Denmark. But this initiative was according to her far over the top.  Whatever people thought of nudists it according to her certainly not up to the EU to  decide anything about camps for nudists, where they should be built and even support them economically.   Her article had a prominent place in the paper, so we were aware that this was her serious opinion.



Now, we were in trouble. What should we do?  Just forget it.  Say like the Brits do: Let those waves die against the cliffs!  No, we decided to react. We had to bring our story back to where it belonged:  The Fools’ Day box.   So I wrote a short article to the newspaper, and my main message was:  It is only on April 1 that EU takes off its clothes!



This was like putting gasoline on the fire!  Madame editor was even more angry – and wrote that she would never again believe anything of what we said or wrote from our Office.

The died a few years later.  I do not hope we were part of the reason.



That’s how things can go.  But this did not prevent us from trying to be creative on April 1 the coming years. 



To contribute to your day I have found this link to a list of Fools’ Day jokes:







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