I Was Told There'd Be Cake

That happens to be the title of a very funny bookthat has nothing to do with losing weight. In case you're interested.

I had an epiphany yesterday about cake. (Yes, that's what I said, an epiphany about cake. I don't claim to be deep.)

I've been sick this week. Well, actually for two weeks. (I'm finally starting to get better, thanks for asking.) And I had to work yesterday, which kinda sucks. Then after work I was driving to a birthday party for a special seven-year-old and thinking of how exhausted I was, when I found myself thinking, "I hope there's good cake."

And then I got to thinking about all the events where we serve cake in our culture. Birthdays, weddings, graduations, anniversaries, retirements, basically any cause for celebration is cause to eat cake.

Here's the thing about me and celebrations. I'm very happy for whomever is celebrating. And generally I'm going to the celebration because I love the person being celebrated. But celebrations mean large groups of people. And as R likes to say, "Janet doesn't like people."

That sounds bad, I realize. And I guess the truth is, I love certain people. And I love those people one-on-one or in small groups. But you put any people in a large, loud, chaotic group? I'd really rather be at home.

So, I realized yesterday that I tend to say to myself about every time I'm faced with one of these situations, "Well, at least there will be cake." Cousin's wedding? Grandparents' 75th anniversary? "At least there will be cake."

This cake coping mechanism is a classic example of me using food to numb whatever feeling is making me uncomfortable. I'm grateful that I live in a culture which serves cake. Otherwise, I'd be forced to feel uncomfortable without assitance.

Do you suppose this is WHY we serve cake at these things? Because generally they involve seeing family we don't like? Or being around large groups of noisy children? Or co-workers we'd rather not spend our social time with? Do we serve cake to medicate people into being able to stand the pressure?

At any rate, I know that I personally look forward to the food at these things. And I'll admit, good food is a good way to motivate me to do something that makes me uncomfortable. Which is something for me to think about.