We had a employee dessert contest, and I entered. I am well known in the office for my desserts ..........they just love them. While I am setting up my dessert display a coworker says that I should not be allowed to enter. Then there were other comments through out the day. My question to you: do you get the green-eyed monster and if so, how do you handle. I just think it is crazy for grown women to act so petty over an office competition. BTW, I won in the category of Best Tasting. I was told that they wanted to give me Best Tasting and Best Presentation, but you can only win for 1. I will go with Best Tasting ......... it works for the business.

congrats on your win!!

Here's how I deal with those people: "Who cares? Who's next!"

Yeah...just let them wallow in their petty thoughts and let it roll right off your shoulders.

You can't help nor change their attitudes which are at this point (since we ARE talking adults here) way past the point of being moldable. If they were friends, they would be happy for you. Just don't let it get to you, it is as you put it just jealousy.

Congrats on your win and enjoy it!

I try to brush it off (even though I want to mush there faces with cake) It starts to get really annoying after a while. I had an instructor not too long ago that was constantly giving me the green eye and I would try not to show my talent so much because I didn't want her to feel bad. I got tired of it and started to put out my best work. Let's just say she wasn't too happy about that. I recieved a lot of positive feedback from other instructors and students and now I don't even care anymore about what she thinks. I do really well and that's all that matters to me. I never took any pictures of my best work and that is the only regret that I have because now I don't have much to put in my portfolio. Don't let it get to you.

OK I am on the fence about that. I mean, you have to admit, the concept of an office competition is that everyone there in the office are a bunch of amateurs, so the odds are even. When you are a professional, it kind of takes the fun out for everyone else. Imagine if it was an office sports activity, like skiing (ok that's a reach, but work with me, I'm trying to think of an individual's sport) and one of you was an olympic skiier...I sure wouldn't want to compete against you! If I worked in an office with Aine2 and Sugarshack you can BET that I would feel like it would be pointless to enter a cake-decorating contest. That is why some competitions even have amateur and professional divisions, so you compete against comparable entrants.

I guess my point is, they just felt outmatched, and they unfortunately felt the need to voice it to you (which IS rude). The people who made those remarks just feel bad that they can't possibly measure up to your obvious talents. I don't think they were trying to insult you or denigrate your work...in fact it was a backhanded compliment.

That said, the really stupid thing though, is: yes they CAN try to measure up. I mean, rather than "admit defeat" any one of them could do a little research and come up with something spectacular. I am known as "the baker" amongst my friends (I am NOT a professional) but a gal who cooks everything from the box won the dessert competition at a friendly party, with a simply kahlua-soaked cake. I was shocked, my recipe was a shoo in! But she came up with something better, bless her heart.

I wish there was a little leeway to compromise...some way that your coworkers could enjoy the fun of the competition without feeling that your talents sort of made the whole contest a moot point. It surely would be preferable if they could just enjoy all of the goodies.

If you wanted to keep the peace in the office, why not volunteer to be a judge in these competitions instead of an entrant?

I'm gonna come down to florida and smack the snot outta you! This is just like girl in high school pretending to be dumb so she wouldn't be smarter than the boys so the boys would ask her out.

We've come a long way, baby ... please don't take us backwards with mentalities like this one!

When you're good at something, don't hold it back. Excel with those talents you were born with!

"Those who have it, flaunt it. And those who don't have it, b*itch about those of us who do!" (quote attributed to indydebi 30+ years ago!!)

Ok, I swear this just came up for me last week! I am a SAHM though... it was my husband's office. They sent out a notice about a dessert contest and there will be a prize... AND I WAS EXCLUDED BY NAME. That was a load of BS. Well, it turned out that my hubs didn't get the whole story before he got the email, so he told me what it said before his boss came and clarified to him. It turns out that their intention was to have me judge it, which I have since agreed to do, and they were supposed to approach him about that BEFORE the general memo went out. Anyway, although I do understand where they're coming from (who wants Michael Phelps competing in the swim competition at the local Y, right?) they could've handled it much better by saying that no SPOUSES were allowed to enter... that the employee had to be the one to make the dish. Anyway, I talked it over and have decided to talk smack about their cooking to my mom on the drive home just to make me feel better! Hehehe... I'm kidding. These are very nice people and I like them. I was just informed poorly about this. Had it been handled the way they intended (If hubby's boss hadn't dropped the ball) I'd have not been offended at all.

Oh, and I'm not lying to myself about WHY they wanted me to judge... it was to keep me out of the competition of course, but still... kind of flattering.

And if I worked in an office with Aine2 I'd be so busy wetting myself with joy and writing down everything she did... I wouldn't have time to enter the office bake off! Hehehe.

If this is an office competition and you work in the office, then you should have the right to compete without being made to feel bad about entering. I'm sure it was set up in the spirit of fun and to promote employee morale (or else why would they do it at all?) so why all the negativity?

IMO, if you work in this office the same as everyone else competing and you happen to have an interest in cake decorating & desserts then excluding you from competing is no different than excluding someone from say a "fun" office talent competition or singing competition just because they happen to play in a band on the side.

Most likely, you became so skilled at desserts because you spent your own free time practicing and perfecting your skill. Why shoudn't you be allowed to participate? I'm sure they don't have only dessert contests exclusively, so there would be opportunity for others to win other competitions that they have a gift for or a talent in.

In the office I used to work in, they had contests for best short stories all the time. Everyone was allowed to enter even though obviously there would be some that are more gifted in this area than others. We also had talent shows where there was a prize for the best act and singing competitions for best singers.

The point of all these competitions was to promote employee morale. Those who choose to see it as anything other than that (and thus behave negatively) are missing the point entirely and being IMO "petty".

Don't you dare stop entering these competitions.
My mother has won the sponge cake making competition at our local show almost every year for about the last 39 years. She is in her mid 70s and a friend of hers is nearly 80. The friend has been trying to beat my mother for all those years. It must have been very discouraging for her but 2 years ago she finally did it. She won. And then they both retired from that section. Mum had always said she would quit when she got beaten and her friend wanted to go out a winner!

My friend and I decided last year that finally we might have a chance to win. Our entries went up to the judge and she decided that neither were good enough for 1st so she awarded us equal second!!! Even when my Mum wasn't competing I still couldn't beat her. LOL

The point I am trying to make is that someone is always going to be better than you at something, its up to you to strive to become as good (if not better) than them. You are only as good as your competition! And by the sound of it you are pretty good competition.....they should be striving to become as good (or better) than you rather than sniping about your skills!

Girl - you just keep on baking your little heart out! It's not much of a "competition" if only the inept people enter - and where are you going to find people to judge THAT competition?

Congratulations on your win(s).

If it were me (your co-worker), I'd look at you as a great opportunity to try to win! I love a good challenge, not to mention I like to win. Competition pushes me to do better. However, some people do not know how to deal with real competition. There are so many people here that blow me out of the water when it comes to decorating, but that isn't going to stop me!

You go on and keep winning any chance you get!

Toni

Thanks everyone for your replies.. I have gotten some good insight here. What I would like to say is that there are other competitions that go on in our office that I do not participate in, because I dont have the talent. Since I recognize that isnt my cup of tea, I dont bother entering into those contests. To these women, I may be a professional. Against my CC Family, I am not. I dont know how to stack cakes, never worked with fondantthe list can go on and on about what I dont know how to do. However, I feel I am good at what I can do. I have spent long hours in the wee hours of the morning and all day on weekends researching and perfecting this. Now I feel I do have natural talent, but with anything, it has gotten better through hard work and practice. So I feel that I am an employee who happens to have talent in the baking competition and want to enter. There were 3 categories, so there were 3 opportunities to win..No one person walked away as the grand prizewinner. In the email that was sent out it said we are looking for the BEST of the BEST. To me, that means bring your A-game. I guess what I am saying is that I want to participate in something in the office too..this just happens to be something I know a little something about.I hope this makes sense..

If these women have children I wonder what they are teaching them about losing, how pathetic, good job on your wins!

If I might add, there was a mom in the PTA going around making comments on how my cakes tasted while they were donated instead of being thankful she felt the need to critize, anyhow guess what 2 years later I'm still baking and she eventually wore her welcome thin just like I knew a person like her would so I win

You know sweetie - what you just said makes total sense. You did work hard to develop this talent. I believe that everyone should be given the opportunity to demonstrate the area they excel in without others devaluing it. You did put the effort in and if that other person is jealous, they can put the effort in too. I would be surprised if they had spent the hours you have. Some people have a jealous streak that just can't be tamed and all you can do is be glad that you don't have to walk around being constantly consumed by that gross feeling like they do.

Keep entering and if anything, when they say something mean, don't react - talk as if there was no sting in it. In fact, if it were me, I'd try to laugh when they say I shouldn't be allowed to enter and say something along the lines of "I know how you feel - I feel the same way when I see that awesome talent of .... when they enter the .... competition. But then I remind myself how hard they worked to get that talent and I realise I don't want to spend the time developing my skill, so kudos to them. By the way, if you're really interested in all things cake, why don't you check out Cake Central......" It is a way of being light and getting your point across without the confrontation. That or just laugh lightly and act as if she's given you a compliment (it will confuse her)!

Oh, I forgot to add an important fact. Just that morning I was talking to another co-worker, and she was saying she did not enter this year. She said she won the last 2 years, and the women were giving her grief about it. They told her it wasnt fair for her to keep winning. She is not considered a professional at all. I told her that she still should have entered, because this is what a competition is. You compete for the award. With that being said, these are women who dont like to lose. To me, they just want to win and dont care that they obviously dont measure up to the BEST!!!

It doesn't do kids any favours - this whole 'this is North America so everyone gets a medal' thing drives me crazy.

I did an Iron Chef challenge with my Pathfinder group (12-14 yo girls) a few nights ago (at my house argggh). They did a great job on their main dishes and desserts, and then the three of us leaders judged it. We took this very seriously, and gave points where we felt they'd done well, and deducted them where they'd missed things. Anyway, the scores were close, but one team won, one came second and SHOCK one came LAST. The kids were so surprised that it wasn't a 'tie'!!

JR - you keep entering competitions, and be proud if you're the best, and be gracious if you don't win!

I am super duper nice to them. Be their friend, even if you don't want to be.
Keep your friends close and...the jealous cake ladies closer.

I obviously don't handle them well at all... But it is easy to be on the outside of it, and tell you to NOT let it get to you, and just do what you know is right for you.

Eventhough you do this as a biz, it is obviously not your main source of income, so technically it is a hobby that you turned into a biz, right? Hey, they could do the same thing too if they like to bake or make desserts. I know plenty of hobby bakers/dessert makers that have a day job, and are simply fantastic at caking! Why should anyone be penalized for having an avid interest in something? Especially if there is going to be an office competition. Maybe next time it will be a dance competition, or a scrapbooking competition, so what if Suzie dances as her hobby, and Mary's hobby is scrapbooking...they should still be able to compete too! IMHO

I have a line that I have used since high school reserved especially for people that act like that. Feel free to use it if you like:

"It's ok to be jealous!" (said with a smirk and a head roll )

I just have to say...where do you all work? At my job, we have to do work not contests. I think I am in the wrong profession!!!!!!