Cake, Cookies, & Compassion

Despite the hurricane on Sunday (which didn't amount to more than heavy rain in our neighborhood), we headed out to a surprise birthday party for my friend Morra. And two things about that event turned me into a fan of Lakota Bakery. First were the goodies; the cakes -- one golden with raspberry buttercream, the other almond meringue with dark chocolate ganache and chocolate buttercream -- were spectacularly moist and delicious (yes, I had three pieces). The cookie platter was equally impressive and I realized after looking at Lakota's website that the reason the cookies looked so familiar was because I have eaten them before from Darwin's (most recently, while in the hospital following Violet's birth).
And the second thing is more emotional in nature: as we were all delighting in the sugary confections, Morra shared that when she was a few weeks postpartum, she was tasked to bring treats to her mommy meet up group. She headed to Lakota, picked out cookies, and pulled out her wallet -- at which point she was told that they didn't take credit cards, only cash. Amidst sleep deprivation and postpartum hormones (and who knows, perhaps an intensely visceral hunger for cookies...) Morra broke down in tears. The owner looked at Morra, the baby, and the cookies, then told her not to worry -- to come back and pay another time (which Morra did the following day).

Now, I know this is a hard thing for business owners to do...sometimes they might get burned for their kindness and hope for honorable follow up. I love that the owner of Lakota felt compassion for a new mom in need of cookies. And in my opinion, it's kind acts like these that make businesses great and will motivate me to buy from Lakota Bakery next time I need cookies or cake.

Image credit: Nicco Mele