The night I was punk'd... but just for a few seconds

Last Christmas holiday season, Darlene and I decided to host a party at our house. Unlike other parties we have hosted in the past where most of the people knew each other, we decided this time to try and select people from all of our social circles so that most people would hardly know anybody at the party. I have found that these gatherings tend to be less clique-ey and people actually get to meet new, interesting people they might never have had a chance to meet before.

Late in the evening, a good friend of mine arrived with her beau. When I went to answer the door, Jen said to me, "I hope you don't mind, but I brought a friend." I looked in her arms and she had a little toy-sized dog, all quivering and nervous like those small dogs typically are. All I could think was 'Oh no! Not a dog!' as our house had been pretty much pet-free since we moved in and I wasn't sure if we would manage to get through the evening accident-free. I know - sometimes I worry about the littlest things. GUILTY!

But I swallowed my un-vocalized concerns and reached out to pet the little cutey and give its head a scratch. Within seconds I knew I had been punk'd. This dog was a puppet!! A very realistic, expertly controlled puppet. I should have known, Jen is totally into puppets and has constructed a few of her own, so this was certainly not out of the ordinary for her. But the realism and her expert manipulation had me completely fooled and I did my best to just keep my cool, playing the game as if I was wise to the gig all along. I don't know if I convinced her, but I felt like a total ass.

Once we got downstairs to where everyone was gathered, I knew it was my duty to get at least one other person involved in the punk. So I found my next door neighbour and told him that he needed to go and check out the cute little dog my friend Jen had brought to the party. Darlene heard me and I think I saw a fleeting look of panic on her face (for the same reason I had my micro-panic earlier), but my neighbour went to see the dog and fell for the ruse hook, line and sinker. He was cooing over this dog and petting it and scratching its chin and Jen was playing her part perfectly. I think it took a good 30 seconds or more before he finally realized what was going on.