To be raging at shortbread instead of pastries?

[pinotnow]

I am at a conference type event. As a teacher I rarely get to come on this type of thing. I've looked forward to the pastries on arrival throughout the two hour drive. I'm here and there are no pastries. It's biscuits of a shortbread type, which I don't like anyway and are not appropriate as a substitute for pastries. I haven't eaten so it's going to be a long morning until lunch, which I now have concerns about anyway.

Why is everything so relentlessly fucking shit now?

Shortbread is a nice biscuit for mid afternoon or even mid morning break, but it’s not a breakfast item.

Did the conference start later than last year maybe?

In that case you have my sincere sympathies and I hope that every event that you attend from now on is positively festooned with pain au raisins.

Thoughts and prayers OP 🥰
I’m reminded of a note in the church newsletter recently inviting parishioners to attend a sing along at a local care home, “we’ll likely be offered a cup of tea afterwards”

.. she knows that... she was being silly

Yes, obviously neither pastries nor shortbread are nutritionally good. But eating pastries is a much better experience than eating shortbread. Even proper, all-butter shortbread (and something tells me that a conference might be serving some margerine-based abomination) is basically a big tasteless stodgy brick of empty calories.

it will be added to The Pastry Misdemeanour logs

your sense of humour is being returned in the post

I'm writing a placard out right now. I'll be over to protest shortly

Start your talk with "And where were the pastries" ...

And then carry on.

Remember this on your feedback form! 0 all the way!

Surely that's Rich Tea?

Oh gods, yes, the margarine based abominations that do not deserve the name 'shortbread'! They disappoint both the mouth and the senses. I've been fooled before by 'shortcake' (which is, dear reader, neither 'short' nor 'cake'). Not even worth the tea you dunk them in.

oh Yes an early start the venue provides breakfast pastries. What kind of savage has biscuits for breakfast. You are right op, thin end of the wedge.

Terrible! In what world is shortbread a suitable alternative for pastries?!
I would probably manage to force down some shortbread with a cup of coffee though

I agree, shortbread is not a substitute for pastries and is not even a breakfast item.

also it’s disgusting but that’s an aside

A housing conference I go to now serves super healthy food all day. Very limited choice and very little sugar. Crazy times.

No you pay with your time and effort to listen to the bolllocks that’s being spouted.

but it’s a saying it’s not literal.

Everything is cheaped out shit these days

I love shortbread, where is this?

I remember going to a work conference at a very nice hotel in Wales so had high hopes for the food. It started at 10.30 and ended at 3pm. The hire car we were provided with was shite and on arrival at the conference, we were given a rather dry Welsh cake and a cup of tea/coffee. That was it for the entire day apart from plastic cups of water on a table at the back of the room. There weren’t even enough seats so some of us had to stand for the whole event.

The local McDonald’s was absolutely packed when we all left.

Ahhhh OP I feel your pain!

Im often at such conferences but as an exhibitor - at a recent one they provided food for exhibitors which was awful then at a slightly later time food for the delegates that was absolutely amazing! Bear in mind we pay £1000s to exhibit.

Dont get me started on the time we were provided with a bagged lunch when delegates were provided with a hot food buffet!! We didn’t rebook to exhibit that this one purely based on the food situation!

Let’s hope they don’t fuck up the lunch!

Hope you have access to a good selection of all day sweets ( not just mint imperials!)

Totally with you OP.

Yes, if breakfast is provided I want savoury. Pastries are a thinly disguised cake, only suitable as a breakfast pudding after I've eaten a proper breakfast.

Also I prefer shortbread to pastries but the two are not interchangeable.

Everything about this thread is upsetting me. I might have to take a break from Mumsnet and do some actual work (no snacks provided).

Conference organisers were obviously psychopaths.

This doesn’t sound like a conference, it sounds like some kind of messed up social experiment! Starve people and put them together in a room all day. When do the fist fights start? 😂