Paying It Forward: Cakes and Candies!

“If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one.”  Mother Teresa

by Ally Oppmann 

This past Saturday, Sarah, Mariah, Corey, and I delivered cakes to different places. Sarah and I got up in the morning and started baking the cakes. Mariah joined us and made cards to put on the cakes. We also bought candy to go along with the cake. Sarah, Mariah, Corey and I delivered the cakes to the Shippensburg police, the post office in town and the new firefighter hall.

The first stop was the town police station. As we pulled into the police parking lot, we could see an  officer talking to a state police officer who was in his car. The officer came over to us, asking how he could help us. We told him we were there on behalf of “Pay it Forward” on the campus. The four of us followed him into the police station and he began taking notes of what we were saying. I found this situation hilarious: standing in a police station, giving a cake to an officer, and he was taking notes of everything. I tried to refrain from laughing, but it did not work too well as Sarah started to laugh. The officer noticed and looked at us oddly.  He then asked if we laced it. We did not, of course, do anything to the cakes except bake them.The officer asked where our next stop was and we told him it was at the post office. He informed us that it might be closed and to go around back to see if anyone was around.

We did as he said, and when we pulled into the parking lot we saw a worker coming out of the building. She said to go in the back entrance and to ask for the boss. The four of us were standing by the door, yelling out for the person in charge. The boss called us in and we started talking to him. We told him about the group and our purpose. Then we said we wanted to thank him for all the work he puts in, and he just looked at us, asking what he actually did. As we walked out, he just stared at us the entire time.

After a successful trip to the police and postal office, we headed to the fire hall. Once we arrived, we began walking around the entire fire hall knocking on doors, and finally someone came out. The person at the door gladly accepted the cake and candy.

The police officer and postal worker were extremely suspicious of us trying to do something kind. How sad is it that those attempting to do some good deeds were considered suspicious? It is as if they believe no one is capable of doing something kind for others without having another motive. I am not sure they will actually eat the cake because it ishomemade. Maybe they will eventually believethat there are decent people out there in the world. I guess you can’t have your cake and eat it too.