What in the hell are people thinking when they call past 9:30 PM to enquire about a cake for a baby shower!!!! Wow, I really don't understand what would even posses a person to do such a thing. I'd like to know where you can call an order a cake past 8:00 period. You walk into any walmart, food lion or such place and no one is even there to take a cake order past 7 most times.

Just snuggled up in bed with my sweetheart when my phone goes off at 9:40. I thought of just letting it go to voicemail but figured due to the time it might be important. Some lady saw my ad in the yellow pages and wants to know if I do baby shower cakes as well. After a sigh, I told her I do. She wants a ladybug shaped cake to feed roughly 30 people. Normally I'd only charge $50 for a simple shaped cake like that but told her $75. Her reply was oh its only $25 and I simply said no, it would be $75. She quickly got off the phone.

Now everyone does stupid things from time to time that make us wonder if they weren't present when common sense was handed out but jeeze, that is rediculous.

The sad thing is, they let these stupid people reproduce! they are everywhere!

IMHO common sense is getting rarer and rarer, along with courtesy and gratitude.

Yep, just what's been said!

She actually corrected you on the price? freak!

Don't forget humility. I swear people are getting dumber by the minute because no one has to take responsibility for anything they do. They can always blame someone else.

"Sorry officer, I didn't know I was going 90 in a 55 mile an hour zone. Darn car I think I will sue Ford for allowing me to go over 55 miles."

Ten bucks says she will call you again.

unfortunately lack of common sense is everywhere. My dd works part-time at a gas station, one that has a booth so she sees the customer at the pumps and you can get discounts for being a member.

She says that you wouldn't believe the # of people who try to scan everything but their membership card. The other day she had a lady try to scan her library card and couldn't figure out why her discount wasn't showing up

Makes you think how do they get by in life

It's really sad. I'm shocked at the lack of manners, etc. by people today. People really don't take pride in themselves anymore (or take pride in the wrong things).

It's so hard to raise kids in this world, too, when common decency, courtesy, sense, gratitude, manners, etc is non-existent today. My kids want to know why they have to act right when no one else does, and say it's not fair. Sadly, it's a valid point. *sigh* I tell them we have to act right because we are better than that.

I've shared this story before, but it falls into this category.

Hubby's family owns a car repair business. Hubby did not work at the family busines ... he worked at a bank. We are gone all day on Saturday. We come home to 3 voicemails from some guy who is trying to make an appt to bring his car into the garage. The 3rd message, he was pi$$ed (!) because ".....I've left 2 messages and I expect a call back TODAY!"

He was calling my freakin' HOME on a SATURDAY! I guess he never imagined that we wouldn't be there, just in case some idiot called a business owners son at his HOME to talk BUSINESS with the son who doesn't work at the business!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Another similar call: I answered the phone and a guy wanted to know if he could bring his car in on Monday morning.

Me: I dont' know. You'll have to call the garage on Monday.
him: But I wanted to check with phil to see if I could bring it in.
Me: Phil has no idea. He doesn't work at the garage. you'll have to call the garage on Monday.
Him: But I didn't want to wait until Monday to see! Can't you just tell me if I can just bring it in?
Me: I dont' work at the garage either. I'm not the garage scheduling secretary. You've called my home. On a Saturday. You'll have to call the garage.
Him: But the garage is closed today.
Me: Then you'll have to call them on Monday.
Him: Can you check with Phil?"
Me: Phil has no idea. He doesn't work at the garage. You'll have to call the garage on Monday.

Me internally: AAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

I was a realtor a few years back and had on of my clients call me at 11:30 PM on a Friday night asking me if I could figure out square footage for her. She was up looking through her documents and had a few questions and needed my help. I told her it would have to wait until Monday morning and could she please call me back then. I didn't even offer to call her back. Calling people late at night is just rude and I don't even entertain those calls anymore. I turn my home phone off in the evenings and if it's family or friends with emergencies they call my cell phone.

I've only had 2 calls about cakes at really late hours. One was at 11:00 pm and the other was at 10:30 pm. The 10:30 one said that they were driving around town and wanted my address so that they could stop by. Seriously!?!? It's 10:30 at night, I'm on my way to bed, and you want to come over?!

I was raised not to call people after 10 because that's normal bedtime. Why can't everyone be taught this when growing up?

Ironically, my realtor worked 24-7 7 days a week. We bid on my house on a Sunday!! I was shocked.

I wonder the same thing a LOT of times! I work at a plumbing company and I can't even begin to tell you the # of times this has happened! Someone will call in for a service call, I will tell them the earliest that I have available is xxx, they then say - you don't have anything earlier???? I just say "Like I said, the earliest we have available is xxxxx. That's not the worst, there are lots of those. Makes me wonder how people actually function in this world.

I swanee, some folks are jus' dumber'n cowturds.

One thing I learned a while back is... Common sense is not common anymore!! Like others have said, just the basics are not a part of common in this culture anymore down to just simple respect for others, their property, the country in general, etc.

It's not just cakes, it goes on in every business. I can give you three other industries I've worked in and the story is the same regardless of the industry...
1) Someone is doing it for 1/3 the price claiming that "they're new" even though they're providing the same level of product not realizing it's hurting the entire industry because people begin to expect someone that has paid their dues and earned their stripes is going to charge what the newbie does because they don't know the difference.
2) Because of 1, people expect that you're going to bend over and kiss their butts just to get business because it's a "cut-throat market"..

unfortunately this is what our world has come to. My mother taught us not to call anyone after 9:00pm and thats with family, so for anyone else it is 8:00pm. Kids are usually in bed by 8 so it would only make sense to respect the household. I couldn't even imagine how I would handle that. I stay up most nights and no one calls me that late, and they know i'm up!!! People can be so rude sometimes.

Yes, that is late but I am thinking since you have an ad in the Yellow Pages, she figured you were closed, she would leave a message & that you would return her call during business hours. A lot of times, I mean to call someone during the workday, get tied up & can't. I get messages all the time after hours on my voice mail with questions & I'm in a 9-5 business. I call them during business hours with the answers. I called a number in the want ad for my job on a Sunday & someone answered. I was all flustered because I just called to hear the name of the company & find out where it was located.

People are sometimes shocked at prices because they usually buy at the same place for the same price and they expect everywhere to charge the same plus they see the prices at the grocery stores or warehouses so they can't understand why you charge more not knowing yours are better (and prettier). Not everyone has $50 or more to spend on a cake & it's going to get worse before it gets better with the economy.

When I was growing up, we were happy to get the Pepperidge Farm layer cake. Mom really never liked making cakes which is probably why I learned to bake them when I was young since we couldn't afford one otherwise. We had a bakery that did/does a pretty, killer rum cake & they have them ready to go. They are reasonably priced & I didn't know what everyone else was charging since that's what we always wanted.

I remember looking for places for my wedding & one place saying the cake was $2.50 per serving. I thought that was ridiculous & it sounded so expensive but when you think about what you pay for dessert when you go to dinner... live and learn... actually, the guy should have pointed that out at the time & it would have made sense.

Oh my gosh...everything that has been said in this thread is true...someone already said my phrase, but I'll say it again...
common sense ain't common!!!!
I am a mental health therapist (hate it!)...but anyway, I now work in the Children's Outpatient Dept. and you should see the # of kids PER DAY that get diagnosed with ADHD and others...and most of the time I'm finding that the kids are having problems because their damn parents don't know how to BE parents!!! Now the kids get labeled, because they have nobody to properly discipline them! It's sickening, sad and frustrating!!!
You should see some of the parents' sad, clueless faces when I tell them to DISCIPLINE!!!!
A good % of the kids I see either are not going to make it in this world, or the world will just evolve into more & more "stupidos" and WE the SANE/SMART people will become the rarity...which I think the latter is already happening!

I had someone call me at 7:58am on Thursday and left a msg that she was wondering if she could order a cake for Friday. I cant believe someone would call someone that early in the morning. HELLOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! dont they know thats its summer vacation and we like to sleep in???? I didnt even call her back I was so PO'd. I have also had someone call me at almost 9pm wanting cupcakes for the next morning. Some people are just so stupid!

I'm one of those freaky people who HATES to hear my phone ring. And if it rings before 10 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m. - I get MAD. I have set rules and those who know me, know my rules (in my defense though, I suffer from chronic migraines and like my peace and quiet) - tho I did have one friend who made a habit of calling me early Sunday mornings - between 7 and 8 a.m. and laughing "But it's just ME (we'd known each other for 20 years)" She learned eventually when I stopped talking to her. "Sorry, I'll call you back after 10"

HOWEVER, despite the fact that I don't like calls after a certain time - and I tell me kids they aren't allowed to make calls outside those times either because I think it's rude... it's different with business numbers. If you publish a number as a business number, people will EXPECT to be able to leave a message after hours. I don't consider it rude to call a business number in the middle of the night (which may be when I think about it) - if I have something that I NEED and need a return call first thing in the morning. Heck, sometimes I've called expecting a recording letting me know what the business hours are so that I can call back or show up as soon as the doors open.

Not everyone is expecting to order a cake late at night - but they may assume that since you answered the phone, you do business during those hours. What would expect them to say...? "Oh, sorry... let me call you back in the morning" *click* because you answered? I would think that would be far more rude.

Hope that doesn't sound grouchy. I've been the deathgrip of one of my migraines for the past two days. I apologize if it sounds short - it's not that meant that way.