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Topic: Buying your own Birthday Cake  (Read 3057 times)

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Buying your own Birthday Cake
« on: April 05, 2016, 11:28:05 AM »
If there's one custom I just don't like here, it's the requirement to bring in your own birthday cake! 

Today is some guy's birthday at work and he's brought in a ton of muffins and cookies and sent an email telling everyone to help themselves. 

WTF?!!!  It's your birthday, somebody else should arrange a cake, not you.  God, it's so awkward to watch, laying it out and begging people to eat it.

Even worse, it would be against some rule to bring in a really nice cake so you have to limit yourself to the crappiest pre made cardboard from the bakery section. 

For myself, I'm not having any of that.  I just keep it a secret at work and trust my family to make me a nice cake.


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« Last Edit: April 05, 2016, 11:38:56 AM by jimbocz »


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Re: Buying your own Birthday Cake
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2016, 11:30:52 AM »
I just hope that more people will ignore the fatalism of the argument that we are beyond repair. We are not beyond repair. We are never beyond repair. - AOC


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Re: Buying your own Birthday Cake
« Reply #2 on: April 05, 2016, 11:38:12 AM »
Other than cakes are expensive as hell........

It was a fairly good S King movie if I remember correctly. Maybe If is a sequel?
Fred


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Re: Buying your own Birthday Cake
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2016, 11:46:29 AM »
I thought this was strange as well. My husband just had a birthday, I asked did work have a cake for you? He said no I didn't bring one.  It made me sad, lol I would have made him a cake for work had I known that was the custom.


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Re: Buying your own Birthday Cake
« Reply #4 on: April 05, 2016, 12:46:40 PM »
Well, I'm curious

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Re: Buying your own Birthday Cake
« Reply #5 on: April 05, 2016, 01:04:28 PM »
I thought it was odd when I was 22, English and working in a UK office! But we did make it a tradition to take orders for really nice individual cakes from the local bakery, and you did get cakes on every one else's birthday.

Not sure that its a rule to buy awful cake and beg others to eat it......


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Re: Buying your own Birthday Cake
« Reply #6 on: April 05, 2016, 01:41:38 PM »
It's not just a UK thing though. In my last job in Houston (I've been self-employed for 19 years), it was customary for the person who had a birthday to being in the cake or the breakfast tacos for everyone. But, there was a collection the days before to buy a card and a gift. My sister who works in a manufacturing plant as the company administrative manager in Texas said that she makes a collection for the cards and gift but not the cake. So, maybe it's a thing in each office and not country. I dunno.


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Re: Buying your own Birthday Cake
« Reply #7 on: April 05, 2016, 01:52:57 PM »
I don't bring in cakes on my birthday and neither does my husband.  No one cares.

Yeah, it's a different way of doing things and definitely took me a while to get used to it (people bringing in their own birthday goodies).  At the same time, I was often the one making cupcakes for other people and I enjoy NOT doing that anymore.  I've turned into a right ol scrooge.   :P


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Re: Buying your own Birthday Cake
« Reply #8 on: April 05, 2016, 02:09:33 PM »
As with the round-about, I may side with the British on this.

Think about it......you only have to futch around with birthday crap once a year. With the American way, there has to be some person organizing things....some busybody.....and they come around for donations and crap...
I just hope that more people will ignore the fatalism of the argument that we are beyond repair. We are not beyond repair. We are never beyond repair. - AOC


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Re: Buying your own Birthday Cake
« Reply #9 on: April 05, 2016, 02:11:56 PM »
Plus if you bring in your own cake then there's no awkwardness of someone being left out because their birthday was forgotten and/or no one bothered to organise anything for them.


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Re: Buying your own Birthday Cake
« Reply #10 on: April 05, 2016, 02:35:43 PM »
Hmmm, I'm starting to come around now since you guys have explained it so well.

I used to work in an old school paint store in San Fracisco with the bitterest bunch of cranky old men you could imagine.  Somebody decided that all birthday cakes should be bought at the X rated bakers and they were frightening!  Brightly coloured porno saggy bits faithfully reproduced in icing.  Everyone would laugh nervously and make up excuses not to eat the hairy frosting genetalia.

When I left they got me a cake with me cruising down the highway in my VW bus instead.  I was so touched I almost cried!


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Re: Buying your own Birthday Cake
« Reply #11 on: April 05, 2016, 02:36:58 PM »
Then I went and spilled more paint since that's all I was good for in a paint store.


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Re: Buying your own Birthday Cake
« Reply #12 on: April 05, 2016, 04:17:42 PM »
My fiance has told me about this but I thought it was just something weird the RAF did. One time I brought a whole bunch of UK chocolate candy and little perfumed soaps from France into work when I came back from a vacation. Everyone was always bringing in baked goods so I thought this would help me fit in since I was still relatively new. Not a single person wanted anything so I was left with drawer full of chocolate and more soap than I knew what to do with. I think I'll stick to having my birthday cake at home  :P


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Re: Buying your own Birthday Cake
« Reply #13 on: April 05, 2016, 04:34:07 PM »

My fiance has told me about this but I thought it was just something weird the RAF did. One time I brought a whole bunch of UK chocolate candy and little perfumed soaps from France into work when I came back from a vacation. Everyone was always bringing in baked goods so I thought this would help me fit in since I was still relatively new. Not a single person wanted anything so I was left with drawer full of chocolate and more soap than I knew what to do with. I think I'll stick to having my birthday cake at home  :P

Nope, not just the RAF (though I do work on a RAF base and it happens here).

I'm surprised no one wanted any of the things you brought into work though - it's pretty standard to bring in sweets or chocolates when you come back from holiday (haven't seen anyone bring in anything non-edible before though). People bring in store-bought biscuits and chocolates to our office all the time - they get put into a communal pile and whoever wants them, gets them :).


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Re: Buying your own Birthday Cake
« Reply #14 on: April 05, 2016, 04:37:49 PM »
This was in the U.S. in an office of grumpy federal government employees.
« Last Edit: April 05, 2016, 04:39:39 PM by NewMeetsOldEngland »


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