Cake Frenzy

Recently, there have been a series of articles about a famous cake shop which announced its closing.

Commentators were equally amazed and disgusted by the customer reaction.

Queues formed, people refused to wear masks, then they did wear masks.

People were rude and pushy, and then they weren’t.

Columnists were outraged (that’s a bit of an exaggeration), and at some level, they missed the point.

Cake shops, cafes, etc., are not the end of the world and wait five minutes, and some optimist soul will open another one — so why get upset?

The articles seem to have missed an important point.

Some talented soul comes along and opens a business. Whatever they are selling makes you feel good (coffee, cakes, health foods?), and you give a little of yourself to these people (mostly money, but also friendship and a hope that they will be successful because you want to be associated with success – it makes you feel worthwhile).

A few years go by, and you make allowances for them closing in the middle of the afternoon, “I have to pick the kids up from school,” or some variation of this.

Hospitality is arduous work.

Your favourite cake shop/ cafe/ health food store does well; before you know it, there are new owners! So what happened to the people you gave a bit of your soul to?

Occasionally, the owners will give you the ‘heads up’ that they are selling the business, “It’s the long hours. It’s just too hard.” So why the fuck did you open a business in the first place? What did you think this life would be like? Or is it that your business has taken off (partly thanks to me), and now you are cashing in?

If you are, then good for you, but you and so many before you have broken my heart (not just me) so many times that I now don’t invest my heart in anyone’s business.

I used to learn names and remember them (that’s a big deal for me), but now I don’t bother. You will bugger off soon, so why bother?

Even the owner of our local Mcdonalds, who said he would never sell the business because of the hell the demonstrators put him through, sold the business after a few years to raise money to renovate another one of his stores.

Everyone lies.

Everyone leaves, and that’s okay because that’s life.

I get it but don’t write in a national newspaper that you are appaled by the brokenhearted.

When life is rocking along, none of these things occurs to you, but when the rug has been pulled out from under you, the world is different. It’s less safe, less appealing. So we need a bit of certainty.

The owner of the crazy favourite cake shop probably doesn’t need to close up shop. She could probably hire a patisserie chef and keep her employees in a job, but nowhere in any of the articles has anyone mentioned this idea.

When a business like this one opens, the customer is king.

It all comes down to bums in the door, cakes in hand.

Then it all gets to be too much.

A trip to Bali sounds like a good idea, and the customer you have hooked on your sugary delights can go directly to hell – do not pass go.

I’ve lost count of the money I’ve spent in cafes, cake shops and health food stores (not any more — too old, too poor these days), so I guess that makes me an expert.