Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The Question Mark Is In Case You're Just Getting Fat

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Love,

Your Co-Workers

(And also Jamie M., who thinks you're positively glowing.
Or that you need to lay off the break room donuts.)

Jules AF said...

This is funny? I like this? I'm going to end every sentence in a question today?

Danger Boy said...

Awesome? This is obviously a wrecker who asked the wrong question of the wrong lady at some point?

MarliO said...

Perhaps the wreckerator (or the order placer) suspects that the baby is not welcome.

Anonymous said...

Snigger,snigger?

PippaD said...

And if only they hadn't done it in blue.

Anonymous said...

This made my day. I'm 25 weeks pregnant and still getting sideways glances from people who aren't quite sure: preggo, or just likes the cake a bit too much?

Classic Steve said...

My guess is that the order was made orally with a meaningless inflection.

WV: ingthik -- The wreckerator was be-ingthik at the time.

SuBee said...

When I found out I was pregnant? A really long time ago? I was, like, a little conflicted? I wasn't sure it was, like, good timing for my husband and me? So maybe I would have liked this cake.

PS It was the best thing that ever happened to us!

Sandy C Also in SoFla said...

Is the question mark implying the possibility she is having something other than a baby? An alien? Puppy? Maybe there are some in her office that do not undersand the phrase "bun in the oven."

KittyKat said...

Going out on a limb here... maybe the parent(s) to be haven't decided on a name yet, so for now, the baby is "Baby ?"

Although usually, people will then call the baby "Baby Lastname" instead of wrecking a whole cake over it.

Dianne said...

I like how the wreckerators made a real attempt to have coordinating blue icing. Also, you can just FEEL the enthusiasm ooozing from the tiny congrats on the very bottom edge of the cake. They must be super excited for the baby...or maybe they didn't want to get too excited because they are unsure if she's pregnant or just fat.

Anonymous said...

At the other end of the spectrum, a friend of mine gave birth in July and two months later someone asked her when she was due.

Normie

Mary Connealy said...

Maybe it's for after the baby is born and ... the kid is soooo homely.... that they're PRETTY SURE it's a baby.

Welcome Baby?

Welcome Fido?

Welcome Cheeta?

eniko76 said...

Yeah, that bi old Congrats at the bottom looks really heartfelt! :p

Fluffy Cow said...

HA ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

Loo-E Loo-I said...

I can only hope, upon seeing that cake, she responded with "Gee. Thanks?"

I wonder if this was an instance similar to the "Will Call Back" cake. Perhaps someone was supposed to get back with the decorator with the baby's name, but never did.

Or, what could be lost in translation is the sex of the baby. If the mom chose to not find out if she was having a boy or girl, perhaps her coworkers put the "?" for that reason?

wv: gimile (gimme leh): I don't care what it says, just gimile piece of cake!

Anonymous said...

Well, maybe it's not a question mark. Perhaps it's just a really curvy exclamation mark. And, how big is that cake? How small is that writing? And why stick "congrats" all the way at the bottom of the cake, where the sky blue writing and dark blue border go together SO well?
-B

Adorably Dead said...

Mayhaps they're just unsure it is an actual human child gestating inside, it could be an alien hibernating until it finally escapes via the chest cavity.

kayk said...

If the icing weren't blue (and that could have been an unthinking and meaningless coincidence -- we ARE talking wreckerators here), I'd guess it was supposed to be "Welcome Baby ?" indicating ambivalence over boy-v-girl. The lame little "congrats" really is the finishing touch.

Anonymous said...

Maybe "?" is the baby's name, like when Prince changed his name to that weird symbol.


wv: "fularoct" - Well, it's better than being full of sh...never mind.

TisforTonya said...

awesome! always best to cover your bases.

Anonymous said...

I like this? I also like how they added in tiny letters Congrats....like oh yeah and that too? hahahaha?

Kim

Tricia L said...

Email to Bakery:

Need a cake at noon. Could you write on it "Welcome Baby"?

And down at the bottom "Congrats".

Thanks.

(So you can see, it could have been worse ... as in "under neat".)

drgns4vr said...

If it weren't for the turquoise gel lettering, it would be a nice cake--boring, but tastefully done.
And the person who did the lettering tried. Did you notice the tail on the Y makes another question mark? And it's spelled correctly. And--and this is the big one--it's not shaped like a baby.

Chennette said...

my 5-year old niece recently learned about question marks and wanted to write it at the end of every sentence. She thought that was more exciting. Perhaps the wreckerator left school at 5.

Anonymous said...

I'm guessing this is a baby shower cake for parents who know the baby is a boy, but haven't decided on a name yet.

The wreckerator would have gotten the idea across better if s/he put the question mark below the word baby.

Welcome
Baby
?

Craig said...

If only the wreckerator had borrowed a space from the abundant supply elsewhere on the cake, it would simply mean that the baby's name was undetermined as of cake time.

Of course, a simple 'Welcome, Baby' would have sufficed (also works for a new hire at a really friendly company that doesn't mind those pesky harassment suits). Note that the standard absence of a comma simply adds to the passivity / ambiguity.

Speaking of passivity, the 'congrats' almost buried by the border (which was likely specified) tends either to favor the bet-hedging theory or brands the orderer as really snarky. Or both.

The daisies are a nice touch, though.

Stoich91 said...

Haha...yesh, sirs. What we have here is a fine specimen of either:

A-What a politically correct culture has brainwashed innocent people with (yet really, the rule of thumb with "asking a woman if she's pregnant" is "DON'T")

B-Yet another sad, sad crime regarding the abuse of punctuation.

Take your pick! ;D

Thanks for the laughs! Cake Wrecks ROCKS!

Stephanie said...

Maybe the person that wrote on the cake really really does not like babies and could not be bothered to come up with excitement like whoever ordered the cake lol. I know if I still worked at the store bakery I'd do something like that haha

Ellen said...

I'm with MarliO - could be that they're not sure the baby is welcome.

"So, um, is she planning to give this kid up for adoption? Keep it? Marry the father?"

"I dunno -- better have the decorator put a question mark after "Welcome baby. We just want an excuse to eat cake."


WV- promins.

:::singing::: Oh promins me that someday you and I, will take our cake together to some sky . . .

Ellen said...

Oops! Messed up the quotes in my previous comment -- should have been:

"I dunno -- better have the decorator put a question mark after 'Welcome baby.' We just want an excuse to eat cake."

Just want to reassure this very punctuation-aware group that I do know better! :)

Arlene said...

Okay, I've got it??

So, this guy's girlfriend has been "needing some space." And she finally decides she'll meet him for dinner at his place. Sooo... he calls the cake place and tells his whole long winded sob story and wants a bunch of stuff on the cake. Well, the soft hearted wreckorator to be tries to simplify his needs and just writes "Welcome baby?" as in he's welcoming her back to his life? And the teeny tiny completely undersized "congrats" at the bottom of the cake is from the wreckorator.
Maybe?

*crickets chirping*

or not.

I could just be a very quickly put together "Grooms cake."

Aile said...

It might kittens. It could always be kittens.

Congrats either way, of course.

CourtneyP said...

Or is the question mark a snarky way of saying your baby is less than cute? "Welcome baby? ... or ... wolverine?"

KP said...

Maybe the cake writer was not entirely at fault... maybe the person ordering the cake was Australian with an incurable rising inflection?
Nah!

Aliza said...

Could be a phone order, and the person said "write 'welcome baby', then put an exclamation point after it"-- and the wreckerator didn't know a "!" from "?"

Or Tricia L's suggestion.

Or the wreckerator messed up the "not sure of the baby's name" part of the message.

But the minimal congratulations is a bit troubling. Perhaps the wreckerator didn't know how to spell "congratulations" and kept it at "congrats" to hide that-- and then hid that, too, so that it wasn't as obvious that they didn't write out the full word?

However, it is a nicely decorated cake with attractive writing! At least "Baby?" is being welcomed neatly and tastily :)

Anonymous said...

For the mommy who doesn't acknowledge her pregnancy?

I was looking at some shameful indulgence of a tabloid website the other day, and saw this said of Isla Fisher's baby, born mid-2010 and whose name has yet not been announced... that makes me feel kind of happy, actually, that nosy entertainment reporters couldn't seem to dig up any info. about the matter!

JoAnna said...

I have to add a thought - altho someone may have said this already, I just ran out of time to read ALL of the comments. Anywho, based on the quality of the borders and icing (even tho it is a little on the boring side) I am guessing that some co-worker bought an undecorated cake and a tube o' gel to write on it with. So maybe the wreckerator is really the customer, not the cake artist. I'm hoping, anyway. *sigh*

Anonymous said...

It was probably a phone order where the person ordering said "i guess it should say something like 'welcome baby'?". I particularly like the congrats squeezed in at the bottom like a whispered P.S. :)

Anonymous said...

Welcome undiagnosed mass?

Jaclyn said...

This makes me smile? Not only is today my firstborn's third birthday, but I'm also 36 weeks pregnant? Definitely pregnant, not fat?

Amy S said...

Welcome Baby? I guess?

PD said...

On the other hand, I'm only seven weeks pregnant, and I'm all like, OH, CHECK OUT HOW BIG MY BELLY IS GETTING (now that I'm not wearing Spanx all the time). It's liberating!

I'm guessing this wreck is because they didn't know what the baby's name would be (my sister was nameless for almost a week), but... yeah, a last initial would've worked, too.

JayCee said...

At least it wasn't "Welcome" Baby?

Reed said...

Sometimes I think people make cakes just to get on this blog. This is one of those cakes.

Kathy M. said...

I know, I know? I totally got the question mark covered? The parents have different last names, and haven't picked a name for the little squid yet?! Either they're not married, or neither opted to change their name?

This does not have any affect on that odd Congrats?

furpurrson said...

KittyKat,
We should be lucky the wreckerator didn't actually write "Baby Lastname"!

Meghan said...

I heard every single "question" (including the cake) in the voice of Alyson Hannigan from American Pie. You know, the Band Camp girl. That would explain the wreck, if the person who ordered it talked like her.

SuBee said...

Congratulations to Jaclyn and PD! I hope you and your babies are given beautiful, "Sunday Sweets" worthy cakes.

Micalah said...

That is so funny? You could only find one cake?

Lady Bright said...

ROFL?

~~Di?

Moon Bloom said...

Maybe they aren't sure if they really want to welcome the baby??

Aliza said...

All the wonderfully snarky comments here just gave me an idea... maybe the cake wasn't for the prospective mother but the father! And they're not sure if it's HIS baby

Or it's just a lesson on the perils of upspeak.

This game of "guess the reason" is rather fun :)

Anonymous said...

Maybe....this is not her first baby they have had to buy cake and gifts for? Maybe....this is for an octomom? Kind of like the girl I know who has been married 5 times, after the first three you wanted to say "you're kidding, right?" instead of "oh, congrats (soft sigh and under breath,,,again?" Love your blog! You make me laugh!

snuzzle said...

The one place where quotation marks would have been useful, nay needed... and they didn't use them! Punctuation is your friend, because there is a world of difference between:

Welcome, baby?

-and-

Welcome, baby "?"!

I assume they meant the latter, in other words, "Welcome to your yet-to-be-named baby!"

Isolder74 said...

It's not a tumor!........or is it?

I guess someone must have been stuffing the turkey a little too much.

*wink wink nudge nudge*

A cake made for the movie Alien.


Nah, just a wreck!

Anonymous said...

Boy, talk about an insult? Can you believe someone paid for this? Or that it was even requested in the first place?

tori aka ggs_closet said...

I'm going to do a birthday cake like that?

Anonymous said...

@Meghan
I just went back and re-read everything with "and this one time, at band camp!!" FTW

-Barbara Anne

Gemma said...

so cute?

news for oracle-sql-plus said...

This made my day. ^^

Arlene said...

Maybe they couldn't figure out the sex of the baby? Or are they just insane to be selling a cake like this? Or was the blue gel writing not enough to give away the sex of the child? Lol!

MissNay said...

I can only guess the number of question mark comments that will undoubtedly ensue.

Chocolatier said...

Not counting the credits, the title is longer than the post. I love that. :)

Julia said...

I like the "congrats" - sort of as a just in case...but not really...ok sort of.

Shanti said...

Awesome! I have a friend who likes to say that the only time you should ask a woman if she's pregnant is if a baby is actually coming out of her.

WV: faityl, which is a good word for mistakenly asking a woman if she is pregnant.

Anonymous said...

This is the result of when you get woke up from a deep sleep to hear your best friend sobbing into the telephone, "It said I'm pregnant! It said I'm pregnant! BRING ME SOME CAKE!" So you swing by the grocery store in an attempt to cheer her up...

ali said...

maybe they didn't know what sex it would be
boy or girl

or what kind of baby it was...0.0

Ruthie said...

Decorated by a Valley girl or an Aussie?