I'm totally with you on being in the "zone". When I work on a cake I get so focused that it really rattles my brain to be distracted by the kids asking a question. The one that just kills me is "what's for dinner?" Dinner? I only have 6" of free counter space and I'm supposed to think about dinner? I'm sure that I really come across as grumpy. I'm not unhappy though, I love making cakes.
I've always been a pretty creative person. I used to work in retail when I was in HS and college and I hated having to work with people. I was much happier reorganizing or working in the stock room away from people.
Now, I prefer to have as little contact with the public as possible, and I prefer using email over talking on the phone to anyone other than family and even that is pushing it sometimes. LOL.. My husband calls me a hermit.
I'm not surly when I go out, I always smile at people and I'm polite, but I'm just really shy. I doesn't take much to make me grumpy though.
I used to be a big people person before the last 10 years of my life. I'd enjoy meeting new people but after what I have been through at the hands of so-called friends....I am becoming a lot like what you explained. Its a sad fact but true.
I also agree with you, tastyart and egensinnig, baking and caking are outlets for me. I definately get in a zone...going long periods of time without break....but thats ok. Everyone should have a passion for something productive that eases the stress of everyday life. I like the fact that cakes, cookies, pies and the like DON'T play games. I don't have to worry about being taken out of context or having someone think that my kindness means more than just being kind. I don't have to worry about the baked goods trying to "get over" on me. It's just me and the baked goods...living in harmony. Just the way I like it.
Lita829, you and I could chat for hours and hours, I think. Too many people suck, don't follow their own social rules, and treat you like dirt when you hold them accountable. Yeah, that makes me a witch, I guess. (Yes, it's been a stressful week, LOL).
Maybe it's all just my artistic temperament? Well, it's my temperament, anyway. I'd rather be alone than have to listen or deal with people because I cannot understand the way they think and act.
Lita829, you and I could chat for hours and hours, I think. Too many people suck, don't follow their own social rules, and treat you like dirt when you hold them accountable. Yeah, that makes me a witch, I guess. (Yes, it's been a stressful week, LOL).
Maybe it's all just my artistic temperament? Well, it's my temperament, anyway. I'd rather be alone than have to listen or deal with people because I cannot understand the way they think and act.
You're right. Many people are hypocrites...I grew up with a whole bunch of them. You know the WEEKEND CHRISITANS.....sitting in pews, praising the Lord on Saturday and Sunday then raising H*LL Monday-Friday. I actually put off joining a church because I thought all church goers were hypocrites because of the people I knew. Unfortunately....were I come from....I was right. Hypocrisy is something I have no tolerance for.....be who you are whether people accept you or not. I also agree that I probably never will fully understand why certian people think and act the way they do...even though do I try to understand if the person is important to me. I couldn't agree with you more in rather being alone than deal with idiocracy. I don't deal with ignorant people very well. I have a very low BS tolerance in my old age 
I've been through too much to deal with it.
So yes....we probably could chat for hours. I'm not sure what life experiences you have had but I could give an earful.
I think it is a combo of all the originally mentioned reasons.....
" lack of respect and understanding from customers and potential customers about what goes into a well planned, time cosuming, executed cake, and why we price them the way we do, OR is it the competitive nature of our industry, that makes me that way.
IDK it maybe all of the above."
add in the artistic factor someone mentioned
" I think most people who work in some kind of a kitchen are there because it allows for as little interaction with the general public as can be helped. I get very irritated with the general public. I just don't have as much patience as other people do. I prefer to be working with my hands, making something beautiful, rather than dealing with complete strangers and answering phones all day."
And the biggest slap in the face with all of it is that WE are the ARTISTS the TALENT, the one who is putting ourselves into this creation and then some customers are just trying to get the cheapest deal and expect us to be slick car salesmen when it comes to our custom made hours of labor just for them. THAT IS SO HARD.
I was always the pastry chef in the back of the house (where my artistic personality belongs!) LOL.... there were dish washers to wash the dishes I created, front of the house managers/wait staff/event planners to play the salesman role and coddle the customers, there were front desk people to answer the phone, purchasing agents I handed off my list of needed ingredients too. Now with my own business it is JUST ME doing all of the above as it is for most of you out there. And don't get me wrong I am thankful to be on my own. If I want to plan a vacation for a week or take a weekend off there is not any manager telling me he booked an order and I can't go. Control of everything is in my hands and it can be a great blessing. However on some days it can be a curse and I can find myself wishing for all those other people to be in the boat with. Add in one disrespectful customer and HUH gee I can't imagine how any of us could possibly get a bit grumpy.
I thought it was just me!! I was telling my DH last night that I have got to work on my phone skills(I totally prefer emails). I'm friendly, but, I'm blunt. I try my best to be nice, BUT............... (ex. below)
When you want me to hold a date for you without a deposit and you tell me that you texted me and that you would call me a week later and I don't hear from you for 3 WEEKS, please, don't get upset when I tell you that I thought you didn't want the cake and that people who paid deposits come FIRST no matter what!!!
(thanks for letting me vent)
I too, am a grumpy baker....I am tired, stressed, overworked and moody most of the time. And darn it I am still creative.
But my greatest peave lately are the people that have NO respect for my personal time. I run a business....don't come to the door after hours or on my day off, see my car and come to the back door orrrrrr when I don't answer the phone ( on my day off ) post the cake question or order to my Facebook stream.
It's been a long week, and it is only Tuesday!
Glad to know I am not alone.
Not speaking about any of you, lets get that straight up front~
I read a study that said many "artists" (writers, etc) who are labeled "moody artists", often abuse drugs/alcohol or have undiagnosed mental illness which can contribute to moodswings.
Jackson Pollack, Edgar Allen Poe, Silvia Plath, and many, many others...helped create this stereotype. Simply labeling all artists "moody" or "tortured souls" in my opinion is not only a stereotype, but it's a ridiculous generalization. We all have our lives, our problems, our ways of handing stress... I'm surrounded by talented visual artists and writers all the time, and I can tell you they are not "moody" based on their profession...most of them are genuinely happy people living the dream.
I'm moody when I don't sleep enough or when my Mother visits...
So, if your moody...who isn't? Times are tough all around right now...
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%