Tim Sneath reminds us that it is a long-standing tradition Microsoft tradition to prank someone’s office while they are out (here’s a video of Larry Osterman’s tales of prankdom).

When I went to see a Thunderbirds hockey game a few years back, I avoided mentioning at the time that seeing the game served a secondary purpose. I attended the game with a couple of friends, one of whom had never seen a live hockey game before. It so happened that his fiancée wanted to prank his office, so our little hockey outing was a way to keep him occupied for a while, giving his fiancée the opportunity to sneak into his office and, along with several other friends, to give the room some of that holiday spirit.

They went nuts with the gift wrap, wrapping not only his door, computer, keyboard, and mouse, but also his pens and coffee mug. They left figurines on his bookshelf, strung lights and garlands, and even set a half-scale papier-mâché reindeer on the floor of the office. But the best part was their calling card: They left behind a list of who’s naughty and nice. In the “Nice” column, they put my friend’s name. In the “Naughty” column were the names of all the pranksters.