 March 25th, 2011
06:30 PM ET
When you work in an office, sometimes cake just happens. It's never especially bad or especially memorable (unless it's actually made by a co-worker in which case, it's by necessity all "WOW! Can I get the recipe? You should totally open a bakery..."). It's never going to make anyone's last supper request list ("I cannot shuffle off this mortal coil until I have...cough...wheeze...but one more sweet forkful of that ShopRite sheet cake..."). It is, almost by definition, just fine. It can be to no one person's particular tastes (unless the nominal honoree has a food allergy), because it must please the masses. It oughtn't be too elaborate, because it must be schlepped to work and may be deemed "too pretty to eat" (spoiler alert - it'll get eaten) and shouldn't be especially pricey because dude - it's office cake. People will eat it because it is there and it is free. "It's because of Bradley Cooper," he said. Ohhhhhh. Huh? It turns out that the cake was not presented to Bradley Cooper, administered to Bradley Cooper with a rhodium-plated celebrity feeding fork or even brought within restraining order distance of his royal personage. Rather, it was a thank you from some on-staff fans to a producer who arranged for them to have a photo-op audience with Cooper when he came by for an interview. As amiable and giggle-inducing as he seems to be and yeah, he's the star of Limitless, the number one film in the country right now - celebrities show up here in the CNN offices all the time. Swing a dead cat and you'll smack David Hasselhoff, Russell Simmons even our own national treasure Anderson Cooper - but no one is busting out a gateau to honor their visit. Unless, of course, they've run out of other excuses. He can take the win if he wants it, though. He's surely still smarting from the split with live-in ladypal Renée Zellweger and maybe eating a slice of cake that he believes was lovingly baked in his honor would make him feel better in a Bridget Jones-y sort of way (Oops! Too many memories...). We won't tell him it was just, you know, Friday. Office cake: discuss. |
  Recent Posts
Jesus Christ ice pops made from frozen, inadvertently blessed wine. No, we can't believe we typed that, either. http://t.co/8eLcJriH 10:23 pm UTC, May 18 2012
Our @kittenwithawhip is moderating Restaurant 101 @GoogaMooga Sun. 11:15-12:30 w/ panelists @asytsma @kkrader & @mylastsupper. C'mon by! 9:34 pm UTC, May 18 2012
If you had Zuck-style cash, where would you take your pals for IPO dinner? We're thinking we'd just rent out New Orleans. You? 8:23 pm UTC, May 18 2012
RT @ChefBradleyO: @eatocracy In its honor, a twice-baked blue cheese souffle, for your consideration: http://t.co/swcaPfNX 7:50 pm UTC, May 18 2012
RT @qualityrye: Writing a four-star review can be as stressful as a goose egg b/c if you get it wrong, you've wasted your readers' hard-earned $$ @eatocracy 5:11 pm UTC, May 18 2012
 |
 |
|
© 2010 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertise with us | About us | Contact us | Help | Advertising Practices
At my office we have a cake all the time. On wednesdays I bring Timbits ( a canadian thing- donut holes) sometimes we get other things too. In meetings there are always treats as well. Last one was rice krispie treats and gummies . We have had pizza days , waffle days, sub sandwich days, pot luck days , BBQ days etc. It is hard to stick to a diet around here .
Im more of a pie guy. Fresh fruit baked into flaky crust yumm!
I, like many, am lost here. What's the point of this article. That a movie star got a cake? That's news?
I have cookies on my computer. Anyone interested?
I used to eat cake–since demonstrating active celiac disease, I can only read about it–those of you who can, enjoy!
In the now infamous words of Eddie Izzard – Cake or Death?? !
I'm human, and I found this interesting. Thanks for sharing. Perhaps there's a culture/generation gap that leaves some of the detractors unfamiliar with this common (often vacuous) workplace phenomenon. Let them eat cake.
Ohhhhh I love when there is cake! Especially the stuff from the grocery store with the sugar icing. I'm not big on eating the homemade goodies people bring in. Not enough sugar! It's so thoughtful to bring in treats for everyone. I'm not overweight either but I love sugar. And who cares if the article isn't news. It's entertainment. Why'd you click on it just to bich about it?
THIS is news? This isn't even human interest! I love CNN, but this just is horrible to have on your front page!
Thanks, Kat. Folks who work in any office environment will relate to your column and smile. No matter the flavor, the age, whether or not it was dropped for longer than 5 seconds, sneezed on, or had someone's fingers in the icing, cake gets gobbled up in my office. I especially like the fact that everyone tries to avoid taking the last piece by cutting it in half, and in half again, and again until there's only crumbs and a bit of icing left. The icing is the best part, especially the kind made with so much sugar, it makes your teeth hurt. I confess here, I will eat entire roses.
Aw, thanks. I used to work from home many years ago and was thoroughly mystified when I started back in an office and baked goods would just materialize out of nowhere several times a week! I swear, if I let myself I could eat cake, cookies, doughnuts or other pastries every single day of the week from the lovely CNN Money folks I sit by.
It's a THING, no? Maybe it doesn't happen in every profession, but journalists looooove to snack.
Cake makes an appearance in my office weekly. It's really, really frightening actually.
The cake is a lie.
ROFL i searched for just this i'm glad someone has played Portal here – epic comment bro
When I was working for a newspaper, the fact that cake was in the building spread like wildfire. I would have 18 people come around to tell me, "There is cake in the conference room!"
That'd be because journalists will eat ANYTHING: http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2010/11/25/this-just-in-24-hour-journalists-will-eat-absolutely-anything/
There is no such thing as cake. Cake is an illusion.
Ah, Dear Lady, it's not just journalists. :) I work in the office at an assembly plant. There is no such thing as leftovers at this place. Whether it's a catered business seminar, a holiday covered-dish or someone's birthday – everything gets eaten. I've even seen someone pick up half a donut and eat it declaring, "I'm sure someone just broke this in half." Ooooookay. ;)
I read this and thought well Im dumb because I don't get it.
Are these cranky people joking? This is a perfectly legitimate article about an very common workplace phenomenon, with a much better raison d'etre than Sue from Accounting's maternity leave. This is much more toothsome than the cake described herein...
IHere, here, Shelburne!
I wonder if they are just cranky because no one brought cake for them. I can certainly understand why no one would. Who wants a cake that says "Happy Birthday Negative Nancy"? Party Poopers.
I want the last 3 minutes of my life back. Is this news... a poorly written story about office cake? Really CNN?
Sometimes I eat the sheet cake at work, but if it is cake taht someone made, I never eat it. After seeing what my female co-workers do in the bathroom (like leaving the stall without flushing and leaving menstruation and related paraphanelia lying around) and what they don't do (like not washing their hands, or run them under the water for half a second, or touch the door handle with their bare hands on their way out), I can't stomach it. Hey, if that's what a person does in public and doesn't feel the need to even front for fellow bathroom users, then that person is either the same nasty way at home, or even worse, so I wouldn't want to eat what that person made.
Then maybe you should get the men to bake the cakes if the women you work with are such nasty skanks. last time I checked having a penis didn't hinder cake making ability...just ask Duff!
touch the door handle with their bare hands? are we supposed to have special bathroom gloves?
Thanks for kiling my appetite, Denise! You are like a dietary supplement all by yourself!
Hey, maybe you could go into business doing this!!! Wow!
Haha. Funny this article gets posted today. We just had our "cake day" at my office today to celebrate our profits from 2010. We also had lasagna from Olive Garden and played guitar, sang songs, and told stories about our younger years. Great fun, actually, considering I was getting paid for it. :)
See – my colleagues in Atlanta have an INSANE cake day 4x a year and we don't get to play 'cause we're in NYC!
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/living/2010/11/24/natpkg.cake.day.timelapse.mov.cnn
What is this entire article about?! It's a bunch of nonsensical rambling about cake and god knows what else!
I think the person who wrote this must of had case of the munchies and rambled on from being intrigued by the cake..
Take-home message: Sheet Cake Happens
it does. over and over again sometimes it seems...it's so bad for the waistline, but those inexpensive cakes from the grocer are actually quite good
I rarely think much about shmancy, high-end desserts, but there's something about that gritty, gross grocery store icing that I just CRAVE every once in a while.
Agreed. Most lame article I have read in 2011 so far. Including children's blogs.
Have you considered the possibility that the problem is in your own set, Betty? And what are you doing reading children's blogs? #thatscreepy
I'm sorry, Ms. Kinsman, what was the take-home message of this article? Best I can decipher, it was to use the word provenance in a column. Let's step it up a notch CNN.
Commonality of experience and a bit of a smile on a Friday is the point. I often write about childhood hunger and the plight of Japanese and Gulf fishermen as well if that's more to your liking.
Gee Todd,
Condescending much? How about trying to be less of a lemon sucking happy leech and lighten up. Or did you just need to use the douche-bag terminology "take away message" to make yourself feel better?
No, no– Todd has a point. Somewhere around the fifth paragraph, the author took a sharp turn and started going on about Bradley Cooper. I have no idea who Bradley Cooper is, nor do I care to know; I was more interested in the story about cake.
At least the photo looks good.
Why is this guy everywhere all of a sudden? He's not even that good. I mean, sure he's got some talent, but I think he's more semblance than substance. He can be funny that's for sure, but that's about it.
Chicks dig him. That's why.
Yes, yes they do! um um um um yum
He doesn't do a thing for me. Couldn't even pick him out of a line up of the current breed of cookie-cutter Hollywood types. He looks sort of sexually ambivalent, to be quite honest. Like a dude who likes dudes but doesn't want anyone to know it. And WHAT is with that sticky-up hair? Is he part Treasure Troll?
Did someone say there was cake?
I met Dick Cavett the other day in the office. And if I knew he was coming, I'd have baked a cake.
Who doesn't like Dick Cavett and cake!