Never Toss The Cake

My overnight co-workers and I arrived at work one night last week to find the remnants of a cake from a farewell celebration for someone on a daytime shift. The portion of what had been a beautifully decorated sheet cake was still in fine shape—a surprise snack for us all, in a world in which we normally miss the dayside celebrations.

Yet, before I knew it, the night cleaning person was about to throw it away—the whole cake, unceremoniously dumped in the industrial size garbage can. “No, don’t!” I cried. “I’ll take care of it.” She, of course, had her job to do—instructed not to leave the messes from the day, she just wanted to restore the place to order. But throw away cake? Rather than letting us overnighters partake in a little of the daytime festivities?

And so it was that I spoke up. And so it was that I moved the cake, transferred to a smaller plate, to my work station. And so it was that all of us got to enjoy a bit of it. And so it was that I happened, that night, on to the realization that in life, you should never toss the cake—never just throw away an opportunity for color or sweetness or joy, especially when it is placed right in front of you.

I’ll admit, my waistline may not need me to defend the preservation of leftover cake. But my psyche most certainly does. When we allow ourselves to get so wrapped up in order that we forget joy, when we become so concerned with discipline that we forget fun, when we spend so much time focusing on what should be that we ignore what is, we are at risk of “tossing the cake.” And, as far as I’m concerned, that is a mistake we should never make.