Were You Victim of a Prank Yesterday?
If you were a victim of a practical joke yesterday, don't get mad but rather circle the day on the calendar for next year, as December 28 is the Festival of the Roman Catholic Church, in memory of the Massacre of the Innocents, the children of Bethlehem who were allegedly slaughtered by King Herod after the birth of Jesus.

In Costa Rica, the "Dia de Los Inocentes" is like April Fools Day in North America.

Innocents' Day, commemorates that day more than 2,000 years ago when King Herod ordered the slaughter of male infants in his realm for fear of the prophecy that one of them would depose him from his throne. The new-born Jesus escaped that cruel decree because Joseph and Mary had taken him to Egypt, outside of the despot's power, in obedience to the bidding of an angel.

That story has lost much of its spiritual value in this modern world, probably because we have become more practical, if not, regrettably, less reverent. In fact, the day is now regarded as an excuse for practical jokes to be played upon the "innocents," who are too ready to accept things at face value without suspicion of deception or mischief.

The jocularity of the day has made many of us forget that many of us are innocents throughout the year and not as victims of a mere prank among well-meaning friends. Most of the time, the deception is serious, and so are the consequences. We are victimized by ill-intentioned persons who take advantage of our naiveté for their own selfish advantage.

In Costa Rica many have come to realize what the day really represents and have diminished the tradition of practical jokes, notwithstanding, many still like to have some fun on this day.

One of the most common pranks played on December 28 is on the Simón Bolivar Zoo, with calls to the zoo for Sr. León (Mr. Lion). Zoo officials say that they receive such calls during all year, but December 28 is the big day.

Other pranks begin at the breakfast table, filling the sugar bowl with salt to changing the time on clocks.

The practical jokes even went as far as the mechanical bull of the "Sapo Tico" television broadcast, where "innocents" were victims of pranks by the Repretel broadcasting crew live on air from the Zapote Fair.