Oversleeping. April Fools’ Day. Meal deals. Minor problems!

 My alarm rang this morning. I “snoozed” it. It rang for a second time. I “snoozed” it again and woke up a good hour later. Presumably I switched it off by mistake and then was lulled back to sleep by he sound of rain on the skylight windows. My body played an April Fools’ Day joke on me. Today is the First of April, after all.

Origins of April Fools' Day

Some historians speculate that April Fools' Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. In the Julian Calendar, as in the Hindu calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1. 

People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes and were called “April fools.” These pranks included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as “poisson d’avril” (April fish), said to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.

I once tricked a whole A-Level French class into believing they were having a surprise test. They grumbled and moaned but, being basically a nice set of teenagers, they set about answering the questions with a will. And then I went a put a paper fish on every table! Teachers have to get light relief somewhere! 

There’s also speculation that April Fools’ Day was tied to the vernal equinox, or first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, when Mother Nature fooled people with changing, unpredictable weather.

History of April Fools' Day

April Fools' Day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event, starting with “hunting the gowk,” in which people were sent on phony errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for fool) and followed by Tailie Day, which involved pranks played on people's derrieres, such as pinning fake tails or “kick me” signs on them.

There have been some famous April Fool jokes, such as the ‘documentary’ about the spaghetti trees. Spaghetti that didn’t come in tins in little hoops drowned in sweet tomato sauce was still a rare and exotic thing back then. We wouldn’t be fooled now. Although there are still people who break dried spaghetti so it will fit in the pan of boiling water, or so I am told. 

There’s a thing going round on social media (a meme?) saying that April

Fools’ Day has been cancelled because no-one can think of pranks worse than what is happening in real life. I don’t seem to have found any spoof news items in today’s papers. It’s too late now anyway - if you play a trick after midday you are the April Fool.

Enough of that.

i read an article about meal deals the other day. Part of it was in praise of the concept of meal deals - a “main course” (if a sandwich or a pot noodle counts as a main course), a drink and a snack for a reasonable price, cheaper than buying all three items separately on different occasions. Boots the Chemists do it, although quite why a pharmacy sells food is a different matter altogether. Marks and Spencer food hall does it. The major supermarkets do it, especially in their small city-centre high street manifestations. It’s very popular with workers who can’t be bothered or don’t have time to take a packed lunch to work with them. 

According to the writer it’s a singularly British thing. She’s not found an equivalent in New York. I think that in Spain and Portugal and possible France and Italy there are still plenty of small restaurants offering a “menú del día”, probably slightly more expensive than a supermarket meal deal but infinitely more satisfying to sit down at a table and maybe even have a glass of wine! 

The writer went on to moan about the fact that Sainsbury’s have changed the classification of at least one item in their meal deal. A yogurt used to be considered a “snack” but now it’s a “main”, much less satisfying when the writer tried the combination. Besides she had difficulty choosing a “snack” that wasn’t a packet of crisps or a bar of chocolate.. And by four o’clock in the afternoon she was hungry again!

A very British problem. 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!