Why Did I Put All My Colleague's Pens Behind Their Backs?

Anonymous Smug Charmer #397 · General

So, I've been at this company for over 25 years now. That's a long time to be anywhere, right? And you'd think after that many years, there wouldn't be any surprises left in the workplace. But guess what? Surprises can come from unexpected places, especially when it comes to my colleague Carol. Now, let me preface this by saying I really do like working with Carol. She's smart, she's funny, and we've pulled off some great projects together over the years. The problem is, sometimes she can be a bit... controlling. A few weeks back, there was an internal debate about office supplies. We were discussing whether to go ahead with ordering new pens for everyone. You know what it's like when people argue about stuff that shouldn't even matter? Well, that's how the conversation went. Carol took a firm stand against getting new pens because she said we already had enough in stock and didn't need more. But I was just tired of seeing old dried-out pens all over my desk, and honestly, who doesn't want fresh ink? So here's where things got silly. I woke up one morning with an idea stuck in my head like it wouldn't go away: what if I put all Carol's pens behind her back? You know, so she couldn't reach them easily when we had meetings or brainstorming sessions. It would be a small prank but also something that would make me feel less frustrated about the lack of new supplies. I did it on a Monday morning when everyone was still settling in for coffee and donuts. I grabbed all her pens from her desk, put them behind her back where she'd have to stretch or turn around uncomfortably to get one. Let's just say, by lunchtime, Carol had to ask someone to fetch them for her because she got tired of reaching. Now, I could've easily told her why I did it right away, but there was something fun about seeing the look on people's faces when they saw all the pens behind her back. But here's the real question: Am I really that petty? Is it okay to pull pranks at work just because you're frustrated with a decision someone else made? So tell me, what do you think? Am I totally out of line for doing this prank or was it kind of funny and relatable? Let me know in the comments. :)