No one is immune from the zingers, wise cracks, nicknames/pet names, monikers, and practical jokes. If you didn't have a sense of humor, you better develop one fast otherwise, you would be an endless target.
You've got to have thick skin in this chosen career field as it is, but you've also got to be resilient when it comes to peer pressure. And believe me, there IS peer pressure.
If you had a weakness, the practical joker would find it and use it to his advantage. Like for instance, I hate snakes. The only good snake is a dead snake. The fact that I have a 'thing' for snakes, took our joker friend awhile to figure out, so you know there just had to be an incident.....but I'll save the snake story for another time.
The practical joker made it a point to see how far he could push the rookies or new transfers. He would often search his entire repertoire in an effort to find your soft spot.
Shortly after joining this department, I was assigned to a squad that seemed to have a bit of a joker competition going on. I was new and I was the next victim.....
They hit me with the easy stuff first;
*pulling the hubcaps off the tires and putting pebbles in them so that it made a horrendous noise.
My kid brother did that to me once or twice. Very old joke.
*taking a slim jim to your car and placing a tape player inside. The tape had a selection of items ranging from wolves howling to ghoulish voices calling your name.
I have a good ear. I recognized the voice on the tape and it was a truly bad tape recording.
*placing raw eggs strategically in the crease of the driver's seat. When you sit on it...very messy.
I always look before I park my butt anywhere.
* Take a slim jim and put a few crawly things in your car. Usually something nasty from a local bait shop.
I was somehow spared this one.
*Sneaking up behind your parked car and hitting the back end of your car with their push bars, thereby making the entire car jerk and seriously scaring the crap out of you. Timing was everything on that. Drinking coffee, maybe writing a report, was just a little icing on the cake.
I learned long ago that you want a wall at your back.
*Sneaking up on you and your car, bombarding you with raw eggs. Requires you wash the car.
Who had the money to waste on eggs they weren't going to eat? That one wasn't all that popular, except at Halloween.
*Dispatching you to night time calls at the cemetery. Oh yea, this would originally require some assistance from a dispatcher, but when the dispatching system changed, our jokers had to adapt. Ah yes, the old 911 pay phone hang up.
Day or night- cemeteries don't bother me. They tried it twice and I have no problem getting out and checking buildings, sheds or whatever to ensure security. I never found them creepy. In fact, the history of the occupants always intrigued me.
*New female officers were always indoctrinated by having to search a tranny. Their reasoning was that you couldn't be sure, so better to have a woman do it.
They already knew, but they wanted to enjoy the look on the rookie's face during the search and discovery.
*Move your patrol car. [My personal favorite] This required someone getting access to the spare keys or have a key made.
Try explaining to your supervisor where you left your patrol car. And yes, I was the recipient of that one. I merely got on my walkie and told the offender, in appropriate police code, to meet me at my location and bring the item. The worst part is that it was raining and I was getting wet.
*Booby trapping your locker. Usually with something very gooey or slimy.
I rarely used my locker, but one time there was a crusty substance all over the lock. I really don't know what it was but I borrowed some bolt cutters and got another lock.
The list just goes on, but it sure does break the monotony.
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