Pavlovian conditioning at it's best

I used to work in a bar, where a couple of things happened without fail, every night. Around 11pm, there was a tribute to the US flag, where the flag was displayed, while The Star Spangled Banner played, which was immediately followed by God Bless the USA. This happened every night, without fail. The other thing was, at the end of the night, at closing time, Whiskey Lullaby would play, followed by Happy Trails, signalling the end of the night, and time for everyone to go home. I worked the door, checking IDs and such, and it was my responsibility, when I heard Happy Trails start, to turn on the lights in the bar proper. As soon as the lights would come on, people would grab their jackets and purses, and head toward the door, and on home, or wherever.

Now, Whiskey Lullaby was also a popular song to dance to, and it would play a time or two throughout the night, as well, not just at the end of the night. This was important to my prank.

There were three people in on this prank, myself, a dear friend of mine, and the DJ. The timing was perfect. It was almost midnight, but not quite, right at the end of April Fool's Day, so pretty much all the pranks were done and over with, as it was only minutes away from April 2nd. The DJ did the tribute to the flag, played the National Anthem, and then God Bless the USA. The next song he played, according to plan, was Whiskey Lullaby, and people were out on the dance floor, dancing and continuing on with their night.

Then, as Whiskey Lullaby ended, the next song he put in the system was...Happy Trails! At the first notes, I hit the lights, and people started leaving the dance floor, grabbing their coats and purses, and getting ready to leave! Not one person even thought twice! They just took their cues from the music and the habit of one song following another at a specific time, combined with the lights coming on, and everything combined, and acted accordingly, as if it were closing time.

The bartenders, waitresses, and security were dumbfounded, standing around looking like 'what in the world...?'. The owner was sitting back in the office, and he was getting ready to come out and find out what was going on, when the DJ came on the speaker to say 'April Fool's! Courtesy of Barb and Al!' He was laughing, and continued on with the playlist, and people started laughing and headed back to their tables to drink, dance and enjoy the rest of the night. I turned the lights back off, and was laughing so hard I could barely talk.

It was so hilarious to prank 300 plus people at once. Seriously, it seemed like no one thought twice at all. The songs played in order, the lights came up, and, because the vast majority of the patrons were regulars, they all knew the signals, and those who weren't regulars, just followed the cues of the others.

I don't think I'll ever one up myself on that one.