Friday, July 15, 2011

Sarah's birthday



I have no idea who Sarah is but I saw her super luxurious birthday cake and wishing her "Happy Birthday" is the last thing on my mind.

The cake, brought in by a customer, looks similar to this one I found on the web - colourful, pretty and oozing of sweetness in every sense. The thick sugar coating cracks as the chef tries to cut it. He decides he needs to remove the 50 tiny ladybirds, bees, butterflies and pink dainty flowers to do a clean cut. It's now taking a while and the waitress adds some pressure on him. He gestures to me to help. I lay out the serving plates on the work surface which is actually a open-top fridge with packets of fries stored underneath. The family has requested to be served 12 cake pieces but the piece for Sarah is on a special Barbie-pink plate. The plate returns back to the kitchen: more butterflies for the birthday girl, please. I rush to pass the other plates out through the window to the service crew.

I keep wondering how much this cake must cost and how many intern hours I will need to put in to afford this luxury. I look around and wonder if others feel the same. I myself have gotten such an extravagant cake for my son but back then I did not have this perspective. I've never been on this side of the world, and it's good to see the world differently, even if uncomfortably.

2 comments:

  1. If you ever see the TV show, Outrageous Kid Parties, your jaw will drop.
    It's crazy to see how much these parents are spending for that one day.
    Yeah, if their parents can afford it, it's their choice, but it is just not good for a small kids to be treated this way, fairytales are fairytales.
    Read this : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1359173/Outrageous-Kid-Parties-Mother-spent-32k-spoilt-daughters-6th-birthday.html
    But then again, people are spending millions for weddings too, so, why not for kids. It's their choice. Not mine.

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