Thu, 22 January 2009  It comes as a great disservice that the story of the Great Kitten Prank has never been put to page until now. After all, the events that largely affected one Mister Michael Vincent Cannetti, unfolded in the balmy summer days of July 2006. Though it has been told on occasion to friends of Mike Cannetti's or mine, it never had the full effect. The reason is, this prank was largely carried out over the internet. And as things that happen in real life can seldom be told well over the internet, the opposite applies here. One must be able to read the correspondence that took place that really gave this prank its amazing longevity and potency when the final bells tolled. Before I dig into the prank, I should clarify a few things in the writing to come. Some of the story is lost to time. Faded memories will allow me to only input what I can remember about it well, the rest I will have to recreate to the best of my ability. Everything else will be carried by copied and pasted excerpts from the actual email chains that took place throughout. These actual surviving excerpts will be italicized. Please enjoy. - July 5, 2006. The prank begins. As I recall, Mike and I were conversing by our usual means over Gmail chat or something similar. I don't recall why or how it started. My best guess is we were discussing my now-wife/then-fiance Angie, and my upcoming wedding. I'm sure as well the talk evolved into a wedding gift from Mike to us. Because the idea to prank Angie came as a kitten wrapped in a bow. To expand on that, Mike and I for whatever reason thought it would be an excellent idea to pull a little prank on Angie. The idea was discussed thoroughly and unfolded as follows... I took Angie with me to pick up lunch at a local salad bar/delicatessen. On the way there is the most worried dramatic voice I could muster I said something like, "Mike Cannetti told me what he got us for a wedding gift." She was at first unstirred by the direness in my voice but asked about it further. "Ang, it's kind of a problem. He got us a kitten." Anyone who knows Angie, knows well her allergy to cats. Not to mention, at the time we were living in a non-pet friendly building so we couldn't take in a cat even if we wanted to. "What do you mean he got us a kitten?", she asked. "Exactly that, he went to some kind of shelter or something and picked out a kitten to give to us. He has it at his house." Immediately Angie's mind fired from the norm of something like, "What the hell is he thinking?" straight to something more like, "Well maybe we can see if someone at the office would take him." I'm sure it took a few minutes of time for this to occur but it seemed quick to me. Very resourceful she is. Anyway, I kept playing it up as much as I could, asking her things like, "What are we going to do? He can't return it!!". Eventually I realized this was an error, as she started coming close to being very upset. The last thing I wanted was for her to start crying surrounded by strangers in the middle of a midtown deli. "Alright, calm down, its OK it's just a joke." "What?" "Its a joke, the cat isn't real, Mike and I are joking with you, he didn't get us a cat, don't worry." After I'm sure her being pissed at me for a few seconds, she gave in and realized it was kind of a funny and dumb idea. "I was mostly trying to figure out if we could give it to someone in the office, I wasn't worried about us taking it really.", She said as we were walking back to the office. This is when a little tiny bolt of lightning came down from the heavens and struck me in the evil part of my brain. "What if we turned this around on him?", I said. "What do you mean?" "He doesn't know yet that you know its a prank. What if we turned it around on him with what you were just saying?" And so it was that I decided to flip the equation from my fiance to my best friend. The plan would be to tell him that Angie so worried for the kitten would send an email company-wide to everyone, letting them know we had a kitten that needed adopting. When I told this to Mike, he thought it was genius. Most people would stop at this point and say this probably is a good spot to call it quits. But Mike is a balls to the wall kinda guy, and clearly wasn't thinking about the repercussions of if a real email got sent to 150 or so real people asking if they would like to adopt a cat that didn't really exist. What can I say, its why he's the best friend I have. This is the point where a devious nature and a knack for things that use electricity comes in handy. I asked Mike to find a picture of a kitten so I could show Angie. He immediately Googled the cutest and saddest little gray kitten he could find. In the meantime I was busy creating a new person. Specifically a new executive at my company, named Michael Radenoff. It is with Mr. Radenoff's fabricated help, that I would pull the proverbial wool over my good friend's eyes for weeks to come. But more on that later. For now what you must know is Mr. R. got his own brand new hotmail account and would soon be mailing Mike Cannetti. I sent Angie an email once he had found his kitten letting her know: mike's gonna send you the picture soon. let me know when you get it. MWAHAHAHA Soon Mike emailed us the picture, the quick chain followed: From: Mike to Angie Subject: Here is the kitty I got -picture was attached here- From: Angie to Mike Subject: Re: Here is the kitty I got. He's so cute! im sure we'll be able to find someone who will want him. Too tempting! From: Mike to Angie Subject: Re: Here is the kitty I got. Yeah lets hope so. It would a shame to have to give him to the an animal shelter or something. After receiving said kitten picture, and with a bit of free time during the rest of my lunch break I wrote what looked identical to a string of back and forth emails. Each carefully timestamped to give it realism, each matching outlooks reply's to really trick anyone who saw it. Since you would need to read it from the bottom up for it to make sense, I will instead reverse it for you so you can go on reading in a normal matter. As follows, the first email sent to Mike Cannetti: From: Angela Teichholz
Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2006 1:58 PM To: Max Graphics; McMahon Group Staff; Peter
Labrozzi
Subject: Kitten Needs a Home Hey everyone, From: Michael
Radenoff Sent: Wednesday, July 05,
2006 2:27 PM
To: Angela Teichholz Subject: Re:
Kitten Needs a Home
Hey Angie,
I saw your e-mail about the Kitten. That's really a shame. Luckily, I may
be able to help. My wife and I were just discussing getting a kitten for my
daughter the other day, as we have been for a while. When I saw this I gave her
a call and forwarded her the picture you sent, and I think we'd like to take it.
My wife is telling my daughter about it when she gets home from school, so I'd
like to expedite the process. Please forward me your friend's info so I can
contact them immediately. Thanks!
-Michael
From: Angela Teichholz
Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2006 2:29 PM To: Michael Radenoff
Subject: Re: Re: Kitten
Needs a Home
Hey Michael,
I'm so excited to hear that! His name is Michael Cannetti. His e-mail is: redacted Thanks again! Angie Hello Michael, My name is Michael (as
well), and I was talking with one of my employees, Angela, about a kitten you
recently acquired. She mentioned you were looking for a new home for it. My wife
and I would be very happy to adopt it. Please let me know about it's medical
history so far (shots, spayed/neutered, etc.) and also a phone number I can
reach you at, so I can meet with you to get the kitten from you. My wife told my
daughter about it and she is absolutely thrilled. Thank you so much in
advance!
Kindest
Regards,
Michael
Radenoff
To be continued... Category: Random -- posted at: 1:32 PM Comments[0] |
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