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Free Birthday Cake!!!

By Cameron Reed

Friday September 12, 2008

Like most days when I actually show up to work, Kris and I went to lunch in Gastown. Since we’ve been blessed by our great Lord with such beautiful weather this week we were given the choice to sit inside or out on the patio where we could be bathed in sun and panhandled for the duration of our meal. I turned to Kris and joked “It’s your birthday, up to you”. The hostess smiled, tilted her head slightly to right, gave a strange little sigh that was a mix between excitement and exasperation and said “Well happy birthday!” Kris decided to play along as to not hurt this poor, misled girl’s feelings or maybe he was just too embarrassed to correct her. Either way, it was the right, and most delicious, decision to make. When our server approached our table she greeted us with a birthday salutation, explained she would not sing, and carried on with the standard server/patron interaction. Food was ordered and quickly consumed. We asked for the bill and received something much more sweet with considerably fewer dollar signs instead. The cake was mocha, coconut, and coffee flavoured. Chocolate syrup was liberally drizzled over it in a zigzagg-ed fashion. Most importantly, it was free because of a joke.