Jay GreesonIn the newspaper profession, we have seen only backfires and nightmares from people trying to be cute on April 1. We make enough mistakes on our own that purposely making them for a chuckle seems silly. (And since the written word - in both print and social media - does not allow for timing or tone, it's easy for intended humor to fall flat.)
One newspaper I worked for back in the day had a front-page story about a potential mad cow outbreak in the coverage area as an April Fool's Day gag. The folks in charge mistakenly thought using the byline "A.J. Oker" (as in "A joker") would be clear to everyone.
This town was about 35 miles north of Atlanta, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and CNN were on the gag story before lunch. To make matters worse, this happened on a Sunday. Our paper did not have Monday or Tuesday editions, so before the paper could address it, it had already been through the wringer of public scorn.
In truth, as crazy as our society has become, do we really need an April's Fool Day prank anymore?
Look at the headlines this week. Which one do you think sounds real or sounds like a joke?
A former reality TV host who thinks we should give nuclear weapons to Japan and South Korea and contemplate using them against Europe is a presidential front-runner.
Another presidential hopeful could be under federal indictment by Election Day.
Come Nov. 9, the next occupant of the White House could be a full-blown socialist. (That's a completely different spin on the fool part of April Fool.)
The reigning Super Bowl MVP is on a dancing show and has such bad gas, he gets fined $100 per toot.
Locally, a Marion County woman is facing child abuse charges for making her daughter walk somewhere.
And that doesn't even cover the fact that "Sex Week" starts Monday at the University of Tennessee, which of course is facing a Title IX lawsuit from alleged sexual assault victims on campus.
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UT exploits
Yes, UT is bringing Sex Week to its students next week.
This, of course, is the same campus that in the last few years has had fraternity boys getting drunk by funneling alcohol into their butts; the school's poobah of diversity tried to do away with pronouns because the use of "he" and "she" may be offensive to a tiny fragment of students, and that same diversity office distributed a message in December reminding students and faculty to remember to "ensure your holiday party is not a Christmas party in disguise."
Next week, though, the slate of events will give new definition to Rocky Top(less).
Apparently one of the headliners is Sophia St. James, who describes herself as a "Queer Diesel Femme."
Her presentation, according to the Facebook page promoting the schedule for Sex Week, is to "explore all the titillating crevices and protrusions of your body."
Wow.
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Bradley bounce-back
This newspaper reported earlier this week that the Cleveland City Schools had trimmed its list of prospective directors to 13.
Couple of thoughts pop up.
First, kudos to the Cleveland school system for acting quickly to fire former Director Martin Ringstaff after a sexting scandal.
Cleveland representatives said they hope to have a hire by mid-June.
Now, juxtapose that relatively smooth handling of a difficult situation with how the Hamilton County Board of Education has moved like molasses through its leadership quagmire of late.
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Saturday's star
We'll give this to the collection of adults and kids who were planting blue pinwheels in the side yard of the downtown branch of the Chattanooga Library.
The sign amid the plethora of pinwheels read "Every Child Deserves a Great Childhood" and the kind ladies helping the kids Friday said April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Yes, every month should be child abuse prevention month, but this is officially it, so if you know someone who needs help - whether a child or an adult - ask.
If the Ooltewah basketball scandal can teach us anything, it is that we all have a part in fighting child abuse of any and all kinds.
So kudos to Margaret Foster with Child Abuse Prevention of Tennessee and Nell Reid and Mary Barnett of the downtown library for their efforts Friday.
If their work helps even one child, then that's hardly a foolish endeavor.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com. His "Right to the Point" column runs on A2 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.