A Writer's Notebook, Day One-Thousand-Seven-Hundred-And-Sixty-Two

I had a bit of drama today surrounding Melissa's birthday cake.  It turned out alright, I think, though it was all a bit tense and a little bit frustrating.  I ordered a custom cake from a bakery and was told that I could pick it up today at around noon, but when I arrived at the bakery, I was told it would not be ready for several hours.  The proprietor of the shop wanted to make things right and wound up offering to deliver the cake so that I wouldn't have to drive back over to get it.  A few hours later he arrived and apologized again for the mix-up, but apparently he had not been given the order at all (despite my having paid for it and been given a receipt).  I was very appreciative, of course, that he did come through in the end, but then he opened the box and the cake had slid a bit so that the layers were no longer aligned properly.  He told me to rush it into the fridge and apologized, offering a discount if I order from him again.  After a few hours in the fridge, it did hold up pretty well, even if the upper layers had slid several inches to one side, and, most important, it was quite delicious.  Despite the flaws, I think that Melissa enjoyed it , which is the whole point, really, and I do have to acknowledge my appreciation that the bakery didn't just give me a refund and a milquetoast apology when I showed up to pick up a cake that did not yet exist.  I have had things like that happen to me before, and even a slightly wonky cake is infinitely better than that kind of disappointment.  

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