Back when I was in the Corsham School Sixth Form I would often make cakes for my friends for various reasons (I’ve mentioned this before). So, when it was my friend Laura’s birthday, I decided to bake a tasty chocolate cake for her. I met her in the Sixth Form common room in the morning, wished her a happy birthday and handed over the cake. Once that was done, I found myself a seat, sat down and started reading a book while she chatted away with her other friends.
About an hour later she had to leave in order to go to a lesson. I was able to stay and continue reading though, since I had another free period. But when she left, I couldn’t help but notice that she put the cake (still in its bag) under the sofa. This seemed strange to me; what about all of the hungry students in the room? They might want to steal it! Besides, if she liked it, why was she just dumping it under a sofa? I stayed in the same spot reading my book and keeping an eye on the cake under the sofa, just to make sure it wasn’t stolen. After another hour or so it was time for me to head down to my own lesson and so off I went.
The day went by and before long it was 3 p.m.: time to go home. But before I headed off, I wanted to check on the cake under the sofa. If it really had been unwanted and discarded, I may as well take it and put it to better use. To my unhappy surprise, I found the cake still under the sofa and so I took it. On my way home, I decided to pop by at my good friend Rory’s house.
“Good afternoon, Rory,” I said when he answered the door. “I shan’t stay long, I just thought I’d pop by a delicious cake for you. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it!”
“Isn’t that the birthday cake you made for Laura?” he asked.
“Well, yes, it is. But she left it behind under a sofa, so, I guess she didn’t want it. You, on the other hand, will probably enjoy it a lot more, so I thought I may as well give it to you!”
“I’m not sure. You better keep hold of it. It could well be a misunderstanding. Maybe bring it in tomorrow, give it to her again and say you realise she’s forgotten it and so wanted to give it back?” he suggested wisely.
So I took the cake home with me, and then back into school the next day. It didn’t actually see Laura that day, but I did bump into my friend Sarah who told me that she had been talking to Laura and she had said that the birthday cake was a very nice gift… So I then brought the cake in a third time the next day and on that day I did see Laura.
“I couldn’t help but notice,” I said, “that you accidentally left the cake I made under the sofa on your birthday…”
“Yeah, I always leave my stuff there for safe keeping, nobody looks there and it saves me having to carry it around!”
“Oh, I see,” I said. “Well, I ‘rescued’ it from under the sofa the other day, so, here it is again.”
And so the cake was finally properly delivered two days later at which point it would have been a lot less fresh.
I suppose the moral of this story is that you should always assume good will even when it may seem that somebody may not be very pleased with your actions, most of the time it will probably just be paranoia and things are rarely as bad as they seem.
About an hour later she had to leave in order to go to a lesson. I was able to stay and continue reading though, since I had another free period. But when she left, I couldn’t help but notice that she put the cake (still in its bag) under the sofa. This seemed strange to me; what about all of the hungry students in the room? They might want to steal it! Besides, if she liked it, why was she just dumping it under a sofa? I stayed in the same spot reading my book and keeping an eye on the cake under the sofa, just to make sure it wasn’t stolen. After another hour or so it was time for me to head down to my own lesson and so off I went.
The day went by and before long it was 3 p.m.: time to go home. But before I headed off, I wanted to check on the cake under the sofa. If it really had been unwanted and discarded, I may as well take it and put it to better use. To my unhappy surprise, I found the cake still under the sofa and so I took it. On my way home, I decided to pop by at my good friend Rory’s house.
“Good afternoon, Rory,” I said when he answered the door. “I shan’t stay long, I just thought I’d pop by a delicious cake for you. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it!”
“Isn’t that the birthday cake you made for Laura?” he asked.
“Well, yes, it is. But she left it behind under a sofa, so, I guess she didn’t want it. You, on the other hand, will probably enjoy it a lot more, so I thought I may as well give it to you!”
“I’m not sure. You better keep hold of it. It could well be a misunderstanding. Maybe bring it in tomorrow, give it to her again and say you realise she’s forgotten it and so wanted to give it back?” he suggested wisely.
So I took the cake home with me, and then back into school the next day. It didn’t actually see Laura that day, but I did bump into my friend Sarah who told me that she had been talking to Laura and she had said that the birthday cake was a very nice gift… So I then brought the cake in a third time the next day and on that day I did see Laura.
“I couldn’t help but notice,” I said, “that you accidentally left the cake I made under the sofa on your birthday…”
“Yeah, I always leave my stuff there for safe keeping, nobody looks there and it saves me having to carry it around!”
“Oh, I see,” I said. “Well, I ‘rescued’ it from under the sofa the other day, so, here it is again.”
And so the cake was finally properly delivered two days later at which point it would have been a lot less fresh.
I suppose the moral of this story is that you should always assume good will even when it may seem that somebody may not be very pleased with your actions, most of the time it will probably just be paranoia and things are rarely as bad as they seem.
