The Walk of Cakes

Like many kids, I always had a good time when my grade school had a carnival. The various booths with games and prizes were lots of fun. It was also fun because we always knew multiple people at the event. Classmates, teachers, parents--there was always someone familiar.

One carnival in particular stands out in my mind. It was the year I won the cake walk. Twice!

As with almost every carnival that is school-related, it relied heavily on donations. For the cake walk they solicited cakes from parents or whoever could (or would) make one and donate it. This particular year there was a really great array of cakes. There was at least one big table covered with them. I got in on the very first run of the cake walk. I don't know if they are all like this or not (I've never really studied cake walking from a multicultural standpoint), but it was basically a game of musical chairs with cakes for prizes. As the music played and people went around the circle of chairs, one by one they were eliminated when the music stopped. I was the last one able to plop my butt into a chair. I won! The very first round of the cake walk, and I had my choice of every cake there was to choose from! Well of course I chose the very best, greatest-looking--the cake of all cakes--there was to choose out of the myriad of cakes. I still remember it.  It was a light green cake with fantastic decorating all over it in the form of pink and gray elephants, and even had the shiny chrome-looking ball sprinkles here and there. It was a work of art! I was so proud as I presented it to my mom and we put it in the car.

The carnival was still young so back into the mix of activities I went. A couple hours later (I'm guessing--what do kids know about time?) we were just about to leave and I paid another visit to the cake walk room to see if anything was still going on. They were just about to start the very last round. There was one lopsided, obviously homemade, cake sitting there all by itself, forlorn and pathetic-looking. I entered the last round, not really caring whether I won because I had already gleaned the finest cake ever in the entire history of cakedom from the prize table earlier in the day. I did it because it was about all that was left as he carnival wound down. Guess what? Yep, I won again! I'm sure I briefly considered a career in cake-walking at that moment.  I obviously had a rare talent for it.  I happily collected that lonely, chocolate cake and left. I couldn't believe my luck. I never won anything, and that day I had won two cake walks!

Later that day after the family had eaten dinner we considered the cakes that stood there.  The winnings from the day stared at me in the form of two cakes.  In reality I only saw one cake on the counter:  that fantastic-looking work of art that was my first cake win--the one that it seemed almost sinful to spoil by carving into it.  It was the obvious choice.  Reluctantly, the knife cut a wedge of it and I carried it to the table.  It was horrible. The most tasteless, dried-out piece of crap ever.  I couldn't believe it.  How could it be?  I think there was a general agreement of everyone at home that tried it.  The youngest of us probably didn't care because it was all about the elephants on the outside of it anyway.  When we cut into that misshapen chocolate-iced cake that was sitting there playing second fiddle, I found it to be the best-tasting, most moist (grammar alert!), most fantastic cake I had ever eaten.  It was what I dreamed the first cake would have tasted like!

Okay, I may be exaggerating. The point is, I learned that day that things are not always as they seem. Just because something looks good at first glance doesn't mean its a good choice or the right choice. It could be a thin covering of goodness that is disguising something vile and horrible.  Good life lesson.