Recession-Proof Games, Part Deux

Not that we expected any less, but you Sparklers amazed us with your feedback on our list of recession-proof games. The comments section for that post could serve as a handbook to the bored, subversive, shameless prankster in us all. In fact, Bored, Subversive and Shameless: Teenage Pranksters would be a perfect name for a book and I call dibs on that title right now.

Reading the clever, inane, and random things you wonderful freaks people do made us excited about boredom-induced activities all over again. So for your consideration, we’ve made some new additions to the canon, most of them based on your own suggestions.

• Slip brief notes into library books, leaving messages to be discovered by strangers maybe even years down the road. For example….
  • If you’re feeling love for humanity, leave notes to the tune of “You have a lovely soul,” “Everything will be okay!” or “Nice haircut!” in some books.
  • If you’re feeling judgmental, seek out books you hate and leave disapproving messages in them—a short “you’re actually reading this?” in any Bill O’Reilly book is a great idea.
  • If you’re feeling like a creeper, leave notes such as “I am standing right behind you,” “Your friends are not who they seem to be,” and “Trust no one—your life is in danger” in novels, particularly of the conspiracy-suspense genre.
• As pullingpuzzles so rightly points out, pretending to speak with an accent you don’t have is a lovely way to pass the time and annoy everyone. I was a victim of this while trying to enjoy an Impressionism exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago. My sister kept praising and criticizing the paintings in a clearly fake French accent. At the time I was embarrassed, but now it’s pretty much the only thing I remember about that museum. She wins.
• Shout out to Galaxy_Fireworks—how could we forget Walmart? That place exists to be messed with. Galaxy, in her wisdom, urges us to “Take shopping carts for the express purpose of filling them and stranding them at strategic locations.” To that we add a similar prank. Go to the outdoor section and grab a lawn ornament—an elf, bear, or frog will do nicely—and hide it on a shelf in another part of the store. That way, when someone pulls out a box of dog chow, they'll be confronted with a dopey-looking bear staring at them and holding a sign that says, “Have a beary nice day.”
• An instant classic from xxbLacKbIrdxx: “My boyfriend had this brilliant idea. Dress up as the grim reaper, pick a person and follow him/her around. He did that at the theater and sat down next to a guy and started eating the guys popcorn. i was sitting behind the guy trying not to laugh.” xxbLac—do you mind if I call you by your first name?—your boyfriend is clearly brilliant. I’m a little worried though: you commented all the way back on May 23, and since your profile says you are fifteen, it seems pretty likely you two already broke up. That might have been too hasty—if he can come up with ideas that funny, maybe you should keep him around, at least for the laughs.
• The most difficult game ever invented was suggested by essy121: “See who can go the longest without saying the word ‘like.’” For this game, the same rule goes for “err, um, uh” and their kin, at least by our reckoning. This is a game everyone loses, because no matter how well-spoken you THINK you are, you say something to the effect of “like, um, uh” like, um, every other sentence… or something, I guess, kinda.
• Another challenging and completely free game: Avoiding the employees at stores with exceedingly (annoyingly?) good customer service. Erika_Darkmoon suggests using a Zumiez: Try to get to the back wall and exit the store without any employee greeting you. And don’t even think about running in a bid to win this one—the employees will descend on you like vultures if you put more than a hop in your step.

What other senseless, crazy games haven’t we covered? And which ones from the last list have you been playing? And how are you enjoying those looks of disapproval and consternation from the general public?