A coworker had made a delectable-looking chocolate cake, drenched in caramel and chocolate chips. Everything about it was so wrong, and so right. I watched as she cut out the needed pieces for her order, and waited to see what would be left. It was taking her a while, so I continued on with my duties only to come back a few minutes later to see the remainder of the cake in the large garbage can.
I stared down at it, quite forlorn. It felt as if a small tragedy had occurred, one I’d done nothing to stop. Another co-worker joined me at the garbage can.
“Why did she throw that?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“It looks good,” I said. “I was hoping for a piece when she was done cutting it.”
“Me to.”
We both paused, staring in the garbage.
“What was wrong with it?”
“Nothing.”
We returned to staring at the garbage, knowing it was time to walk away, since the natural notice-and-comment period of time had long since passed. I could tell, though, that a similar thought, disturbing as it was, came to our minds around the same moment. The caramel and chocolate cake, gooey and screaming its yumminess, proved too much.
I ran my tongue across my lips.
We looked at each other.
“It looks like pretty clean garbage,” I said.
“Yes,” she agreed. “And it’s mostly on the aluminum foil that it was wrapped in.”
It mostly was. Mostly.
We paused.
We looked around, casually trying to see if anyone was watching. Inching closer to the can, I pointed to a piece which seemed relatively safe.
“I’m just going to try it.” I pulled out a piece. Now that I had broken the seal on unacceptable behavior, my co-worker could progress.
“It’s a real shame to waste it,” she said. She reached in and pulled out a hunk. “This was mostly on the foil.”
“Oh, yes.”
We both put some cake in our mouth, reveling in its deliciousness. At that moment, another co-worker came by, her jaw dropping.
“Are you guys eating out of the garbage?!!”
Be sure your sin will find you out.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
You have crossed the line.
I’m dyin’ here.
The lasagne was just out of the oven, and too hot to cut into right away. Jeff and I decided one of the advantages to living in our harsh climate would be the near-instant cooling of lasagne to the appropriate serving temperature. Jeff carried it outside. Fumbling with the door and the hot pan, he lost his grip and the dish dropped to the welcome mat. Devastated, we found ourselves where many had stood before (minus lasagne) and scooped what we deemed salvagable back into the pan. It was delicious. But now we wait for dinner to cool on top of the stove.
After 21 years in the Air Force I can say what you did was perfectly normal. We used to get semi-sour milk, gray hard boiled eggs, and soggy sandwiches with rainbow roast beef, and other unspeakables in our box lunches we took to the missile sites. If this is all you have to eat during a 12 hour shift, it looks very good. Not as good as a cupcake. The experiance taught me not to be fussy! I still hold the line when it comes to live bugs though.
That is the greatest story ever! Fun, fun, funny!!!