I just made a donation cake for my city's literacy lab. A bookstore here had a big book signing with twelve Idaho authors to draw people in. She wanted the actual cake there for a silent auction. I don't think it's a great idea to have the actual cake at an auction sitting there getting dry and old, but that's what she wanted for this two hour event. The cake will go home with the winner at the end of the event.

SO, the cake is there on display when three people walk up to it, exclaim that they can't believe it's a cake, and then they start TOUCHING it. One guy poked at it with his finger, and the woman put the whole palm of her hand right on the gumpaste/RI spines of the book (the picture of this cake is in my pics). It's a wonder she didn't chip some of the wording off of the cake. And their child was lurking around the back of it. Lord only knows where his hands had been.

I was SO appalled that I went over and said, "DON'T touch that cake! No one is going to want to buy it if you've put your hands all over it!!!!!" They just looked at me with that "whatever" look on their faces and I wanted to slap every one of them.

I turned to the store owner and said, "You need to put a DO NOT TOUCH sign up so grown adults know not to touch something people will want to eat." I was just so pissed I didn't even care if they thought I was rude. I am simply aghast. Right in the middle of flu season and they think they should put their hands on a food item they don't intend to buy. What is wrong with people? I can't belive that level of disrespect for others. IDIOTS, IDIOTS, IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!

A "Do Not Touch" sign only works for mature adults and/or supervised children.

This might be a good use for the cake safe.... so people could admire but NOT touch! (Provides an unobstructed view just like the glass cases in museums while providing a physical barrier.)

Next best option would be roping off the cake table (theater style) and posting a guard.

So sad...

U have just got to wonder what on earth people are thinking don't u

Most people are so stupid that it hurts.

I don't understand your concerns about the cake getting 'dry and old' after sitting out at a two hour event, however.

Like the person I saw at the car show tonight...they had samples of cheese and sausages and he kept reaching in with his hands to get one. The girl giving out the samples kept saying, "Toothpick!" and trying to close the lid on the container and he kept tapping his ear like he couldn't hear (we had seen him conversing loudly with his friends so I'm sure he could hear) and then putting that same finger that had touched his greasy ear back into the sample container.

Needless to say, we passed on having a sample

Oh, no, I don't think it'll get dry and old after two hours. This one will be fine for this event. But some silent auctions last for days. I wouldn't want to do a cake that would sit out for that long before the winner could take it home. A gift certificate for a cake would be better for that kind of event. That's what I usually do.

Here's the cake, BTW. I'm proud of it. All the authors were very tickled to see their book in sugar form!

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1522081.html

People are stupid, but WOW-- I can see why they wanted to touch it! Great job!

Nasty disgusting people.....I would have been livid! Nice cake!

Ditto, this happened several years ago to a cake I made for a silent auction to help foster children. A doctors wife no less had signed on the bid sheet several times but when the bid reached $35.00 (only a 1/3 of what it was worth) she delibertly went over and stuck her finger into the cake in front of others who were going to bid on it and said 'Opps, looks like it's mine now'. The social workers who were in charge of the auction were agast. She got the cake for $35.00 and I found out later that she actually cut it in two and took half to one party she was going to and the other to another party. Talk about being a spend thrift. The sad part is the proceeds were to benefit foster children who have so little anyway. I still participate in the auction every year but I just give gift certificates. Pam from Bama

wespam, not painting all of them with one brush, but in my experience, doctor's wives are the WORST at thinking the rules don't apply to them. I've seen them expect things for free, I've even seen them think they don't have to stand in a grocery check out line like we mere mortals (yes, they actually try to cut in line because ".....I'm doctor so-and-so's wife!" True story ... swear to god.)

People constantly amaze me.............their stupidity, I mean...................and like JanH said, a cake safe would have been a great idea!!!!!!
Your cake is wonderful, though!!!!!!!! Great job!!!!!!!!

Maybe a "You Touch It You BUY It" sign would help, and put the value or a hopeful bid on the card for the price for touching it!!!! As for uppity people, I usually tell them I don't give a rip who they are we all put our panty hose one one leg at a time.

It's unbelievable when people do things like that. Grown adults poking a cake. Dumb!!
By the way, the cake looks awesome!

How much did it sale for? Or did they tell you?

The food safe is such a great idea. I'd never heard of them. But the one I saw was $375. Yikes.

cylstrial, I haven't heard what the top bid was. I don't know if I want to know. I'm sometimes disappointed in what they get at silent auctions.

AAAARRRRRGHHHHH stupid ignorant idiots!!

Have you ever seen the people who stick their fingernails into the meat at the grocery stores?

What do they think they're learning about that roast beef they just pierced with their thumbnail? GROSS!!

Infuriating, stupid people!!! I'm actually annoyed to even read that this happened even though it wasn't my cake, lol. The cake is perfect, and you deserve to be proud of how good it looks and the fact that you did all of that work to help others. Ugh, those people make me mad, I like an op's advice to sneeze on the cake the Dr.'s wife scammed.

Reminds me of a cake competition I participated in awhile back. A woman's beautiful cake with gorgeous gumpaste flowers and that amazing stringwork, had to be babysat by her friend because, you guessed it, people were touching it. People that KNEW cake. Not the people who wandered in off the street to check things out, people who had other cakes in the show and/or family/friends of other cakers. You would think that was somewhere a cake would be safe! Duh!

That's a really good idea to put a sign saying "You touch it...you bought it....for $500" or something. Although I don't know how one could enforce it.

I ve had it happen to, i was delivering a wedding cake put it down on the brides table turned away to get my kit to fix a couple of dots that fell off and turned around and the staff at the place had they hands on it trying to fix the dots, i said Do touch that cake i have stuff to fix it , you do not have gloves on to even think about touch it. "They were just sweeping the floors" and decided to come over and touch the cake . They they said and who are you , apparently they thought i was just the "delivery girl", I said Hi im the the owner. The photographer came over laughing , the photographer told me later that wk that they couldnt believe i got onto them for touching the cake. Hello they were cleaning the room and sweeping the floor they didnt wash their hands or even have gloves on.

I had a sign on one of my dummies at the shop:

Cake gropers will be shot.

I had different funny signs on all the dummies.

People touched anyway. People even encouraged their kids to touch.

I have another one that says:

Unattended children will be given a double espresso, a puppy and a one-way ticket to Bu-Fu Egypt.

I made two baseball hat cakes (UNC & NC State ~ in my photos) for a charity auction, and they sat out so that people could take a look. I had enough forethought to put up a large sign that said "CAKE - PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH!!!" Obviously, UNC fans cannot read very well, because one gentleman actually ruined the UNC cake by trying to pick it up by the "bill" and try it on his head! Needless to say, those hats didn't bring in a lot of money for the auction... What are people thinkng???

OMG Starkie... I would have taken the rest of it and shoved his face in it. Actually tried to pick it up??? Wow... just wow.

I think the signs 'you break it, you bought it' are enforceable... At least the guy who was sued on Judge Judy had to pay.

Sigh. I know that we learn through touch. But some folks just want to be able to smugly go, "See, I knew that wasn't really cake!" Then when they discover it actually is cake, they get that stupefied look. A lot of people don't think through their actions - "I'm putting my finger in the wedding/birthday cake...that everyone is going to eat in a little while"

Doltish people are going to touch. I prefer to think of myself as nonviolent so I do what I can to protect the cake in advance. Get somebody (or somebodies) to stand guard.