Woman Outraged After Her Friend Took a Slice of Birthday Cake Before It Had Been Served — Calls Her a ‘Greedy Toddler’ 

A woman is upset because a friend ate a slice of her “beautifully decorated” birthday cake before it was officially served — and she’s asking the internet if she’s overreacting.

The woman shared her story on the “Am I Being Unreasonable?” forum on Mumsnet.com, a site where women can get advice on personal situations. She explained that she recently threw a birthday party for herself.

“I invited all my favorite people, plus a friend who has been acting strangely and has been rude and abrupt lately,” she said.

The original poster (OP) said that a buffet dinner was planned for 8 p.m., followed by music and dancing.

“At 8:45 p.m., the band played ‘Happy Birthday.’ I blew out the candles and took out a knife to cut the (huge and beautifully decorated) cake,” she said.

However, that’s when things went wrong.

She explained, “I went to get some napkins to serve the slices on, and when I came back, the friend had already picked up the knife and cut a big slice for herself from the front, then took it to her table.”

“We were all shocked and have been trying to understand why she thought this was okay,” she added.

The OP gave some background on the friend, saying she is 70, highly educated, but socially awkward. She also mentioned the friend has been getting more impatient and anxious at cafes and hotels, wanting to be served first.

“AIBU [am I being unreasonable?],” the woman asked at the end of her post, wondering if she should be “compassionate” or annoyed that the friend acted like a “greedy toddler.”

Most commenters told the OP that they thought she was overreacting, especially since the birthday song had already been sung and the candles blown out.

“I would do the same,” one woman said. “Wouldn’t expect the birthday girl to stand there for ages serving her own cake!”

Another person agreed: “As it seems she took the slice after ‘Happy Birthday’ had been sung and the cake was about to be served, I’d just laugh it off. It doesn’t seem like a big deal.”

Someone else added, “I thought you were going to say she took cake before it had been shown off and the singing was done, which would have been rude. But since that was already done, it’s normal at buffets for people to help themselves rather than wait to be served.”