Cake-gate at work

[EnfysDilys]

I made some Easter cakes for work colleagues today, enough for everyone with a few to spare.
One woman ate eight! She cheerfully announced this in front of everyone at lunchtime. This meant not everyone had one.
WIBU next time to leave a note reminding her to share! Or hiding them from her? Or setting an alarm around them …

And another and another and another and another and another and another. I think I’ve counted that right, including the two you mentioned. And there’s absolutely no reason to think the OP’s baking was bite size, like the example you’ve chosen to use. The opposite actually, as home baking tends to be on the larger size, bite size stuff being more of a faff.

She was very greedy and selfish with no manners.

So many people do selfish and nasty things again and again and are just allowed to keep doing getting away with it by people who don't want to upset them or think that they might be the baddies by calling them out on it.

Worst of all is the "That's just what s/he is like" non-excuse - whereby somebody making a one-off unkind error of judgment is totally unacceptable; but somebody else's shameless repeated meanness becomes part of their identity and thus has to be accepted, validated and even celebrated.

One thing that I think we need to bear in mind is that, when she boasted about eating 8, she may well indeed have been exaggerating... and she could actually have taken plenty more than 8 and admitted to 8 of them as damage limitation.

The very nature of what she's done means that there could be any number of individuals who have each 'only' lost one cake - people are unlikely to actually count all of those people up and do the maths.

What's the betting that now, when somebody decides to do a nice thing and bring in some home baking, they'll be wise and plan it for a day when they know Ima/Henrietta isn't going to be in... and she'll quite possibly lament that "Nobody ever seems to bring in cakes anymore".

@YerMotherWasAHamster @AntiqueBabyLoanSmurf do you know what the three of you are right. What was I thinking. Call a full staff meeting, haul her up in front of everybody and go full trunchbull on her and make her do a Bruce Bogtrotter. Make sure her P45 is baked into the middle of it. Or the OP have a quiet word privately and draw a line under it.

Nobody is claiming that a MN forum is a COBRA meeting or a UN summit. Somebody asked a (relatively minor in the scheme of things) question about whether something is socially acceptable and how to respond to it, and lots of us gave our opinions.

How do you know that having a quiet word with her would resolve this in future? She already publicly boasted about it, so she's not ashamed of it and doesn't think she did anything wrong. She may just take that as a note-to-self to be more subtle and sneaky when doing the exact same thing next time.

P45 baked into a cake it is then.

That drives me mad! I used to work in a job with about 25 people. For big company meetings I'd book the buffet or arrange whatever catering. As an example of how awful some people are at sharing, we had two big boxes or bowls of grapes. Normal people take a few, a couple of people would take half a box of grapes! INSANE!

someone say CORBA ?

How is she expected to learn that it is not acceptable behaviour to selfishly snaffle other people's cakes when the OP baked them so each of her colleagues could have one each? Gluttony & greed is not an attractive trait.

Eating everyone else's cakes does warrant public humiliation. If she had any decency she'd bring in more cakes to make up for those that she ate.

This thread is why i would not eat anything made by a colleague. The responses on here are unhinged, wishing serious harm on someone for the crime of eating some food. OP has mashed up some breakfast cereal and mixed it with a bit of chocolate, something my 4 year old does with a lot less fanfare

@EnfysDilys wasnt asking for a fanfare, @ThedaBara - she just thinks that it wasn’t fair that some of her colleagues missed out on a treat because of one woman’s greed. This isn’t about her - it’s about fairness for her colleagues.

Some really unsettling responses on here. Completely disproportionate to the offence.

And more fat shaming. I don’t believe OP has discussed her weight?

🤣🤣🤣🤣
How silly.

You don't have to tar and feather someone to make it clear to them that you aren't happy.

When someone behaves selfishly it is ok to say so.

COBRA Cabinet Office Briefing Room A

most excellent

I think it would be more fitting if they were smothered in honey and rolled in cake sprinkles and then paraded around the office to be pelted with cupcakes while everyone jeers. This could also be recorded and later shared on Teams for those unable to attend.

I'm sure they wouldn't do it again!

Oh Jesus who cares not everyone will want a home baked treat .. I never eat this stuff because not everyone has good hygiene

If someone was subjected to this, would it be acceptable to lick them as they go past?
Seems a shame to have it all go to waste.

I suggested a quiet word in my last sentence. Apparently some people think that’s not sufficient and they won’t learn.

What a greedy guts! I’m amazed anyone could manage 8 cakes to be honest 😂 I’m secretly impressed 😅😅😅

WTAF is wrong with people - doesn’t it just make you not want to do anything nice? If you did/do say anything the next thing you’ll be accused of is fat shaming. Yes - I am shaming you because you are a greedy fucker who gave zero fucks about anyone else enjoying a treat and stuffed your own face. I’d be really pissed off - that’s just gluttony.

Absolutely nobody is forced to have any if they don't want them. However in this case, several people who said that they weren't able to get one because their colleague had hoovered up 8 of them presumably did want one - as it would have been neither here nor there to them, and probably not remotely comment-worthy to them, if they hadn't actually wanted one anyway.

Eating everyone else's cakes does warrant public humiliation
I can’t believe that you actually think this.
At what point does a punishment get sanctioned? What if some colleagues ate two of them? What is an appropriate punishment for eating easter nests that were left in an office for people to help themselves to?

I think the OP needs to clarify how many people she made them for, how many extras were made and how many people complained about not getting one. Because if she had made eight extra then the excess cake eater isn’t the only guilty party.