A good friend pulls off a well-conceived practical joke, as only someone who really knows you could, and makes you look completely ridiculous. How would you react?

I like to think I have a pretty good sense of humor. So if someone pulls off a decent practical joke, I’m likely to laugh along with it. I mean, the question says it’s a friend that’s pulling off the joke, right? That tells me that it’s intended in good humor and not meant to be something hurtful.

And that’s a big difference when it’s someone who knows you well and calls you friend. I’ve been in other situations where the practical joke is meant to be hurtful and embarrassing when it’s pulled off by someone who’s basically just being a bully. Those are the situations where it’s being done by someone who is trying to get a laugh and make themselves feel better by making you feel like an idiot. In that situation I’m less likely to laugh and more likely to hit someone in the face with a roller skate.

I’m kidding… I wouldn’t actually hit someone with a roller skate. Spoilers for the second episode of Stranger Things season 4, by the way.

But how do you respond to a well-conceived practical joke? Does it make a difference when it’s pulled off by a friend as opposed to an enemy? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments!

*The Question of the Week can be found in The Book of Questions by Gregory Stock, Ph.D.