HAVE YOU EVER REALLY LOOKED FORWARD TO SOMETHING?
My friend Chad just turned 40, and because with age comes wisdom, he spent the whole week celebrating! He took time off work, visited his favorite restaurants, had lunch and coffee with old friends, enjoyed beloved movies he hadn’t seen in a while, and for the actual day, he decided he would try something he had never tried…Baked Alaska.
Imagine a dessert so decadent, so theatrical, that it doesn’t just
sit on a plate—it performs. Enter the Baked Alaska, the dessert that
dares to defy logic, nature, and the very laws of temperature itself.
A triumphant tower of ice-cold, creamy luxurious ice cream on a
bed of buttery cake that’s smothered in a billowy cloud-like
meringue. Sounds amazing, right? Oh wait, there’s more!
Then it is dramatically doused in rum and set ablaze tableside
in a flamboyant, sugar-fueled inferno. As golden peaks crisp
and caramelize before your eyes, the ice cream remains
impossibly frozen. The first bite is a sensory rollercoaster,
where warm, toasty meringue meets the cool, velvety chill
beneath, sending your taste buds into joyful confusion.
It’s not just dessert—it’s a fire-kissed, sugar-spun act of rebellion against the ordinary!
(You can see why he wanted this particular dessert to celebrate his milestone birthday.)
He and his partner Jeremiah (a kitchen master in his own right, who promised to maybe try making this flaming delight at home after they’d experienced it) found a fancy schmancy restaurant in downtown Phoenix that served Baked Alaska.
It was on their menu online.
Chad called the restaurant and was assured that they did indeed serve Baked Alaska, and they looked forward to welcoming him in to celebrate his big day.
He woke up on his birthday morning thinking about it, tried to focus all day, but could only think about the adventure that awaited them.
Finally, when the time came, they braved rush hour traffic, suffered through city parking, and arrived at Chez BA practically drooling with anticipation. (Editors Comment: Chez BA is not the actual name of said establishment, but I thought it an appropriate moniker for this tale!)
They were led to a beautiful candle lit table. As they sat down, the host tried to hand them menus.
“We already know what we want!” Chad cried, wiping the drool from his chin. The moment had finally arrived! “We’d like 2 coffees and an order of Baked Alaska please!”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” The host replied. “The chef took that off the menu 3 months ago. We have a delicious caramel cake and a few other amazing desserts. Here are the menus for you to look over. We’ll get those coffees right out to you.”
Chad and Jeremiah sat there staring at each other, dumbfounded. They checked the website. They called. They did everything to ensure their long-awaited, much-anticipated dream would be fulfilled, and they didn’t have it. He was so disappointed but more than that, he was infuriated. He felt betrayed! He had done everything right to be sure they had what he wanted, and it was all fake news. “They done him wrong” as my dad’s old Waylon Jennings record would have crooned.
As he recounted the tale to me, I could feel his frustration. “I could have gotten all Karen on their a$$es, but I decided it wasn’t worth the energy. The caramel cake was delicious, we had a lovely dessert and got on with our lives.”
I was impressed. I wasn’t even there, and I wanted call and demand to talk to the manager!
Isn’t that how it goes? Something happens that stings. We feel betrayed, somewhat powerless and often taken advantage of. It feels like crap.
- Someone cuts us off in traffic, not following the traffic laws (cue road rage)
- Someone pushes ahead from the back of the plane, not waiting for the customary row by row progression of deboarding.
- Or a restaurant assures you they have a menu item that they actually removed months ago.
These little “betrayals” in the form of mistakes, unintentional misinformation or self-absorbed lack of social awareness sting so badly that we often blow them way out of proportion.
We get so caught up in the injury and the sting of “I did everything right and you failed me” that we act out. We want to strike back, get justice, make them PAY!
What if we just Let It Go! (as Elsa says!)
Take a deep breath, say “I probably did something that similarly infuriated someone at some point. Let me just move along with my life and not prolong this agony by reliving it on social media, calling the manager and making a scene and prolonging the sting by letting it ruin our day and often the day of those around us.”
Now let’s be clear, I’m talking about the small things here. Not the big stuff that needs to be dealt with.
But think about it. Was Chad really any worse off having caramel cake instead of Baked Alaska? No. It was disappointing, but in the grand scheme, no big deal.
Was I significantly impacted by the selfish twerp who pushed ahead from row 800 at the back of the plane to get off first? Not really. (…and maybe they REALLY had to pee!)
So next time you feel the sting and want to make a stink, pause and think, “Is this REALLY that big a deal?” and “Is me taking a stand right now against the injustice of it all really going to change anything going forward?” If the answer is yes, STINK AWAY! But if you realize it’s just one of those annoying “being on earth with other humans” kind of things, maybe you shrug, say “well that felt crappy” and order the caramel cake!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAD! Wisdom looks great on you!
Go get ‘em Tiger, and if they let you down, shake it off and keep going!
