April Fool's Day is coming, but you won't see me writing about it here.  Huh-uh.  No way.  I did that once and it almost got me: (a) fired, (b) sued, and (c) beat up.
  
   It was many, many years ago, and I was working in another city at a small-town weekly; a "mom and pop" operation that specialized in bake sales, VFW pancake breakfasts and rambling, semi-libelous editorials written by the paper's owner.  (Since I used the word "rambling" in the previous sentence, the name of that paper will have to remain My Little Secret.)
  
   At any rate, the paper operated sort of "fast and loose," at least compared with most of the places I've worked since.  Our readership knew the score and didn't expect too much in the way of professionalism and/or accuracy.
  
   Despite this, the paper was relatively popular, owing mostly to the fact that it was the only game in town and people really DO need to know when those VFW pancake breakfasts are scheduled.
  
   It was late March and the entire editorial staff (me and the guy who took the photos) were racking our brains in an effort to come up with an April Fool's joke that hadn't been done to death.  In previous Aprils, the publisher had printed the front page upside down, run the sports page backwards, and made up fake names (like "Mia Culpa" and "V. Alli Forge") for article by-lines.
  
   These were all clever ideas, but we wanted something just a little better, something ... funnier.
To help us think, the aforementioned photographer and I knocked off early, went to the bar next-door and drank several beers.  Sometime during the course of the evening, it came to us: A story about a new - and entirely fictitious - "Bob Tax."
  
   The Bob Tax, we decided, would be an additional 10-mil city property tax levied against anyone named Bob, Robert, Roberta, Bobby, Bobbie, Bob-o, Rob, Robbie, or any derivation thereof.  We also decided the tax should go into affect April 1 with the full support of the city manager, a mild-mannered little guy whose greatest attribute was his ability to blend in with a crowd.
  
   Moreover, we decided the National Guard would be called in to collect the tax from any city resident named Bob (or any derivation thereof) who hadn't paid his Bob Tax in full by April 2.
In short, we made the story as ridiculous as possible, just to make absolutely certain no one could possibly mistake it for a "real" news piece.  We even added the disclaimer "April Fool's" at the end of the article.
  
   Since the city manager was "quoted" extensively in the story, I made sure to run it by him prior to publication.  He thought it was a hoot and gave us the green light.
  
   So, on April 1, on the front page, complete with a great photo of the city manager giving Nixon's "four more years" sign in front of an American flag, our Bob Tax story ran.  We all had a little chuckle over it, then put the matter behind us as we looked toward the following week's issue.
  
   When I came to work on April 2 there were 37 messages waiting on my voice mail.  The first 36 were from the city manager, who had already fielded dozens of angry phone calls from area residents named Bob.  These Bobs had threatened the poor guy with everything from lawsuits to public canings.
  
   "Didn't you explain to them the article was a joke?" I asked.
  
   "Didn't matter," he said.
  
   "But how could they stay mad once they found out it was an April Fool's prank?" I said.
  
   "They just did," he said in a weary, desperate tone I didn't care for at all.
  
   He was right.  The calls started coming in to the paper about ten minutes later.  I'd relate some of their content to you here, but this is a family newspaper and there are only so many different ways you can spell "@#$!!."
  
   I spent most of the day dealing with seriously cheesed-off Bobs.  Subscriptions were canceled, violence was threatened, lawsuits were promised.  It was not a fun day.
  
   As near as I can figure, most of the Bobs were steamed - initially - over the fictitious tax.  But they REALLY got worked up when they discovered they'd been bamboozled by Yours Truly.
  
   Needless to say, my boss was madder than ANY of the Bobs, even though he had personally OK'd the April Fools story prior to its publication.  Blame has a trickle-down effect, apparently, and by the end of the day, it had all trickled down to me.
  
   The whole business eventually blew over; these things usually do.  But I'll never forget the Bob Tax Incident, as it came to be known around town.
  
   And I'll never again write another April Fool's article.
  
   However, next Halloween I just might consider writing a fictitious story about invading Martians landing in a farmer's field near Grovers Mill, New Jersey.  I mean, NOBODY could be gullible enough to believe something like THAT, right?  Right?
   
   To contact Mike Taylor with your questions, comments, or other great April Fool's Day pranks, e-mail mtaylor@midmich.net or write via snail mail to: Mike Taylor, c/o Valley Media, Inc., PO Box 9, Jenison, MI 49429. Want more? Archived "Reality Check" columns as well as photos, links and previously unpublished "mini-columns" may be found online at http://mtrealitycheck.typepad.com.