Drop bears, bunyips, dahuts and practical jokes

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MyLot member, topffer (@topffer ) recently wrote about carcolhs. You can catch up here: In chatting with me, topffer also mentioned ‘dahuts’ which are, in topffer’s words, ‘a kind of mountain deer with the right legs shorter than the left legs, a darwinian example of adaptation of deers living on sloping grounds’. These imaginary animals sound like Australia’s drop-bears and bunyips, both of which are used to inspire awe and/or fear in tourists. It brought to mind stories my husband tells about his early days working in a bank. It was common for new employees to be sent to the rival bank down the road to borrow a set of scales with which to balance the books. Invariably, the junior would return with the scales, saying he’d been told that, because the scales weren’t weighing true, a paper clip needed to be added to the debit side. Another trick was to ask the junior to borrow some verbal agreement forms. I guess it was/is almost a ‘rite of passage’ for various tricks to be played on new employees. I’m not really fond of practical jokes. I always find myself feeling really sorry for the victim. It’s hard enough starting in a new position without being made fun of. Some, of course, are harmless; others not so much. Photo is Vince's of some paper clips. Edited: First paragraph added. Sorry, folks.