Anyone who has worked with a YTS'er would understand this.
One of the most important lessons of experience within a work environment is the ability to learn to think rationally and act upon it with good judgement ie "thinking on your feet". This one skill is primarily paramount to one's progression through life, let alone your career in question. It is to us, "The Experienced"tm to guide them through their first 2 weeks of the rest of their lives and we do this through the use of sheer abuse and gullibility.
An old shop I used to work in did lots of these, plus also took part in helping out other workplaces in their efforts to educate too.
For example we organized the YTS (Youth Training Scheme for non-Britannias) agent in Halfords to answer the phone and we had him running around their warehouse looking for brakes for a jetski. He needed to learn that life is cruel and was thus taught.
In our old workplace though, YTS'ers were put through what we liked to call "The Gullibility Factor". We had him fixing a one-entrance window display at the front of the store and he didn't twig when everyone else left the window and stood there smiling on the shop floor that we weree obviously going to lock him in there for a good 1/2 hour. And stick signs on the window outside asking not to feed the animals. It's now an obviously dangerous sitution and the YTS'er is now aware.
It probably didn't help that we sent him to the OAP woman chemist next door and asked him to pick up the suppositories, but ask for the extra-large ones. He come back in 5 minutes later with a look on his face that said it all. Thus the flock was educated.
So if you have ever been the victim of the work-related practical joke, do not despair. They are not bullying you, oh no. They are simply teaching you lessons in life. One day you will learn that they are not targeting you because they don't like you, it's just because you are there. Once you can identify the clues as to a gullibility prank beforehand, then you are able to spread the teachings yourself and can join the ranks of "The Experienced".

NB This is not to be confused with office-rape though, that can never be justified. Unless of course she was asking for it :p
( Jeccius Steam Borderlands 2 junkie, Tue 26 Aug 2008, 9:10, Reply)