Boys’ Bathroom Update
As we all know, many of the men’s bathrooms at Northfield have been temporarily closed due to destruction. These issues have persisted leading to increased surveillance for these bathrooms and reduced access to bathrooms during class time. Unfortunately, destruction has continued. Due to this, Northfield has made the decision to close all Men’s bathrooms for the remainder of the school year. This change will take effect on Monday April 21st (the week after PSATs) to give students time to adjust. For the remainder of the school year, students are encouraged to go to places across the street, or at home.
April Fools!
I know, I know, quite devious of me to joke about such a thing, particularly after April Fools day. Some might even say foolish…see what I did there? Regardless of whether or not you fell for my jest, you may find yourself wondering where such an odd tradition comes from. Well look no further as we delve into the deep history of April Fools.
According to history.com the story starts in the Medieval period, where much of western europe used the Julian calendar. On this calendar, the spring equinox was celebrated on April 1st, marking the beginning of a new year. Then the Council of Trent in 1563 in France mandated the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar - which we still use today. This change was finally instated in 1582 and moved the new year celebration to January first.
From then on, those who missed the memo and continued to celebrate on April 1st, were made the butt of many jokes and pranks and were called “April Fools.” One of the most common of these pranks was having a paper fish placed on their backs and earning the name “poisson d’avril” or April fish. This is said to symbolise a young, easily caught fish and gullible person.
This holiday spread throughout Europe with the switch to the Gregorian calendar, becoming popular in the UK around the 18th century. The holiday further spread to the US with the migration of immigrants from the UK coming to the original colonies.
In recent times, the holiday has gained greater notoriety with even popular news channels such as the BBC and large companies participating. One example of this would be the left-handed whopper ad by Burger King in 1998. The commercialization of this holiday has further led to greater notoriety of the companies that participate, making the celebration a great marketing tactic as well as a fun prank.
Whether or not you made fools or were made one, remember that this day is all in good fun. (Image right: Burger King Left-Handed Whopper Ad, courtesy of the Museum of Hoaxes)
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