Oak Bay man wakes up to find pickup truck overflowing with stuffed animals

To appreciate why the back of a pickup truck seems to be overflowing with plush animals of all sizes, you need to know something about the relationship between the owner of the vehicle and his friend, Royce.

“We’re like a married couple,” Royce smiles.

Royce and Ian are such good friends that their colleagues at the Woodshop 506 millwork company built a heart-shaped wooden picture frame for the two of them for Valentine’s Day.

Royce also affectionately calls his business partner Gigi.

“[Ian] doesn’t like that very much,” Royce laughs. “He’s not much of a joker, but I am!”

Royce regularly waits on the other side of closed doors to greet Ian with a fright.

“He hates it so I continue to do it,” Royce smiles mischievously before showing me a video of him startling Ian. “If he wouldn’t scare I wouldn’t do it.”

And if Ian didn’t hate being the center of attention, Royce says he wouldn’t have created an Instagram page called "What’s Ian Doing?" featuring pictures of his friend looking unimpressed with having his photo taken.

“If we’re not laughing, we’re probably crying,” Royce says. “So let’s laugh.”

So when it came time to celebrate Ian’s 40th birthday, Royce was inspired by a picture his wife found online showing a truck filled with balloons.

“She’s like, ‘Let’s do this for Ian!’” Royce smiles. “And I’m like, “‘Yeah! Perfect!’”

But instead of balloons, they raided their kids’ bedrooms and their neighbour’s kids’ bedrooms, until they had amassed 40 stuffed animals to fill Ian’s pickup truck with. Then they surprised him on the morning of his birthday.

“It was hard to miss my truck when it’s decorated like that,” Ian says pointing to the spectacle that greeted him when he woke up.

Along with the animals (who were wearing pointed birthday hats), the vehicle was decorated with a large sign that said, “It’s Gigi’s 40th birthday and he’s celebrating with all his friends.”

“He shook his head [when he saw it],” Royce laughs. “And he’s like, ‘Of course.’”

There was also a second sign—attached to a large pointed hat with tinsel blowing in the wind—on top of the cab of the truck that invited people passing to ‘Honk for Gigi!’

“He knew I’d hate it,” Ian says, before smiling. “And that’s what friends do.”

Friends also make sure to follow up plushy pranks with genuinely thoughtful gifts. Royce had a new stereo installed in Ian’s truck.

“Any time spent thinking of other people let’s them know that they care,” Ian smiles genuinely.

In this case, Royce cares so much he’s also taking his friend out for a birthday lunch, as long as Ian drives his plush truck there. Ian has reluctantly, yet gratefully, agreed to do that.

“He often tries to be quiet and out of the picture, but I think he deserves [to be in] the picture,” Royce says. “And that’s probably why I do this because I think he’s a great guy.”

He’s the greatest Gigi of them all, Royce says. So if you see Ian and his 40 friends driving around, make sure you give them a big birthday honk.