“Today is a really awesome day!” I said to the kids when I picked them up.

They were in a good mood and got right in the car when I asked. They’d been patient all weekend while dealing with my crazy book signing schedule. I decided on a whim: “Let’s go get cupcakes!”

I’d seen the Cupcake Crusader was going to have her van in our neighborhood and so I took them over. When we arrived there was nobody else around. I leisurely got the kids out of the car and explained the flavors. While the kids were deciding a car drove up right behind us. The lady jumped out and speed walked over. I’d told the attended what flavors the kids would want. We were only getting two cupcakes. My wallet was buried deep under all the signing crud in my purse. Bookmarks, hat, kindle all came spilling out.

The lady jump ahead of me and said to me, “I’m going to just go ahead and order. I know what I want.”

— I nodded, now with wallet in hand. She then proceeded to hmm and ha over what flavors she wanted in her dozen box. She took the last of the flavors the kids wanted. Hooray for me for being nice and patient–rewarded with the unkindness of strangers.

Thankfully my kids were understanding and we voted to make our own at home (since Isaac is iffy with chocolate due to his stomach migraines and that was all that was left).

She did come up and apologize as I was tucking the kids back into the car– “I realize now took the last of the ones you’d planned to order. I had heard which you wanted, but I was in such a hurry it didn’t register!” She said it with a half smile, the kind people get when they know they did something wrong and are unwilling to fix it.

“Don’t worry,” I managed to somehow utter.

“Have a nice day!” Isaac called out to her as she rushed to her car in the rain.

Isaac turned to Ella. “We will save money.”

Ella clapped her hands. “Ours will taste better!”

I wondered if the woman’s cupcakes will taste as good with guilt mixed into the frosting.