Dear Prudence,
I work in a small office of about 30 people. Recently a woman who is a bit of a prankster has moved into our office suite. It started off with small things like moving chairs and silly threats, but this week it escalated. While working through my lunch hour I received a call from a man telling me he was delivering 30 pizzas to my house.
I tried to explain that he had the wrong number, but he got increasingly agitated until I finally had to hang up. It turned out that the call was a recording and a prank by our office jokester. I laughed it off.
My boss (who is away on holiday) told me that she was very unimpressed with the jokester but that I handled myself professionally. She also added that she could tell “by the look on [my] face” that the call was a little upsetting. I asked how she knew I looked upset and discovered that the jokester secretly videotaped me while I was on the call and sent the footage to my manager. I am unsure how to handle this. I like a good joke as much as the next person, but I cannot help feeling as though this prankster crossed a line by videotaping me. The prankster does not report to my manager but is a close friend of hers, so I feel like my hands are tied. I did express to my boss that I was upset that I was videotaped, but that is as far as it went. How do I keep this from happening again without putting my professional relationships, or my boss’s friendship with the prankster, at risk?
—Confused