[Cerek]

Here is another example to illustrate why I don't find humor in these situations.

Last year, one of our local high schools recieved a series of bomb threats within a two week period. This, of course, was very big news in our little rural town. The elementary school also happens to be on the same campus area, so both school had to be completely evacuated while police searched the buildings - a process that took 3-4 hours each time. They also had to call in bomb-sniffing dogs. Our town is too small to have that kind of resource, so the dogs had to be brought in from a town over 70 miles away. Another serious waste of police time and resources. Two teens were eventually caught and charged with the crimes. Making a bomb threat is also a felony offense, so they are facing a lot of the same limitations the "joker" is facing with the exception that bomb threats are probably considered even more serious than felony theft.

To make the situation even worse, during the period of bomb threats against the school, a worker in the day care center decided to pull a joke on her coworkers and call a bomb threat in herself. She went into the back of the day care and dialed their number. When her coworkers up front answered the phone, she told them there was a bomb in the building. She just meant it as an innocent joke, but the law doesn't view it that way. The day care had to be evacuated and the building had to be searched. Even though she finally admitted it was just a prank, the police are obligated to search the building just to make sure.

The sheriff expressed his own disappointment that the coworker had made such a stupid mistake. It was pretty clear she meant no real harm. The police, lawyers and judge MUST act according to the law and the law does not differentiate between "harmless prank" and "actual offense". In the letter of the law, committing the act IS an actual offense - period. So two teens and a formerly good day care worker are now facing some serious prison time all because they thought it would be "funny" to call in bomb threats.

That is why I say a lot of culture needs a strong dose of reality. Unfortunately, when it happens, it is often a much stronger dose than they anticipated.