Like Water Off A Duck's Back, Responsibility Is Repelled By Farmer H

Farmer H brought me a Senior Center pulled-pork lunch for my supper on Tuesday. That was a good deed, though requested by me. But don't let that cloud your thinking! Of course we're here to complain about Farmer H!!!

That lunch came with an actual slice of cake this time. The menu listed it as "wedding cake," as it had before, when they sent some weird cheesecake thingy. We all know that the elderlies are not getting married on a monthly basis and serving their cake with a $5 meal. It's just that when a menu says CAKE, I expect cake. And this time, they came through. Except that I did not want the cake.

Oh, I was interested in the cake. I asked Farmer H to open it and tell me what was in the container. He was at the cutting block, unpacking the plastic bag he had brought home. He took out two small square foam containers, then the larger container with my lunch/dinner. I didn't really pay attention as Farmer H was fiddling with those containers, to put them in FRIG II.

"Huh. This one here is my leftover pulled pork. I'll have that tonight. Here. This is your cake. And yes, it's really cake! Here, I'll show you. Huh. How did THAT happen? It's upside down."

Farmer H carried it over to the counter so I could see what was in the container. Indeed, it was a piece of white cake, which looked like it had white icing. Since the icing was on the bottom, I couldn't quite tell.

"Oh. You can have the cake. It's okay."

"Are you sure? I already had some for lunch. It's good."

"Yeah, but it's upside down and all messy. I don't want it."

"I don't know how that happened."

"You probably turned it upside down when you took it out to open it. You have a habit of opening those containers from the bottom. You don't look at how the tab slides into the slot. That's how you can tell."

"I didn't do it! That gal must have done it when she put the cake in there!"

"So you're saying that instead of you making a mistake trying to figure out how to open it, the lady who makes up the carryout meals PUT THE CAKE IN UPSIDED DOWN? Or maybe that she FLIPPED OVER THE CONTAINER TO PUT IT IN THE BAG?"

"No. I'm just saying I know I didn't do it."

Sweet Gummi Mary!!! Which scenario is more likely? There's no way that cake could have turned itself over inside the container, because it was a big square that didn't have room to tip over.

It's not a big deal. I probably would have given him the cake anyway, maybe after a taste. I usually give him the desserts (not that I'm trying to kill him, of course). Farmer H has done this with containers for years, mostly with things that don't matter, like breadsticks or rolls. How hard is it to say, 'Yeah, I might have turned it over.'"