april fools has always been "mean", because people's ideas of humour diverge wildly, and many people don't have a good sense for how far they can go with somebody else. and in a community where there are lots of different people from all sorts of cultures -- it's not at all surprising that one person's idea of a joke really gets under somebody else's skin. telling people to lighten up and not take it too seriously isn't the best way to deal with hurt feelings. saying "sorry, i didn't mean to hurt you" works a lot better, IMO. do i sound preachy? i sound preachy. sorry. :) i just always see this sort of thing happen online, and it's too bad.