Piece O' Cake, by Ricky

Cake, puzzles, Spanish coins, Picasso paintings, and advice all come in pieces. Marie Antoinette gave the French a great piece of advice.

Marie is reported to have given this piece of advice during a dinner party to which the lower classes had not been invited but were attempting to crash the event in search of bread. (It is a little known fact, or perhaps the best kept secret prior to the British breaking the enigma code, that the so called "beatnik" movement actually began in France, because the "bread" the crowd was seeking was money not Colorado edibles.) The queen misunderstood their demands and when told there was no bread at the event just the fancy cake, she is alleged to have said, "No bread and butter!!! Then give them our fancy cakes to eat." She really wanted to say that the crowd should go home and eat Ratatouille, but her publicist suggested cake instead.

The king was not the sharpest tool in the shed but his publicist thought it would be a good Public Relations moment if he participated in the cake delivery. So, he went with the servants to deliver the cakes. When the king announced the queen had sent them cake to eat instead of bread and butter, the crowd was not amused and the king being mystified at their reaction asked the crowd, "What's wrong?" (Although, he probably said it in French.) When a spokesman for the beatniks explained in plain French what they meant by the word "bread", the king was amused and rushed back into the palace to tell Marie and all the aristocrats. When Marie heard the whole bread vs cake situation explained to her, she and the king saw the irony of the night’s events and began to laugh. Naturally, all the aristocrats present also began to laugh. The crowd outside the palace heard all the laughing and was still not amused. One could rightly conclude that the king, the queen, the aristocrats, and two publicists were all laughing their heads off that night.

Marie’s advice was actually good. If you have no bread, eat the donated cake of the wealthy. Only the failure to communicate the exact nature of the bread in question resulted in the unfortunate events which followed. I did learn a lesson from all that silliness. Marie’s advice became the mantra or perhaps "battle cry" I proclaim at the beginning of every meal when I eat out; "Life is short. Eat dessert first!"

© 14 March 2015

About the Author

I was born in June of 1948 in Los Angeles, living first in Lawndale and then in Redondo Beach. Just prior to turning 8 years old in 1956, I began living with my grandparents on their farm in Isanti County, Minnesota for two years during which time my parents divorced.

When united with my mother and stepfather two years later in 1958, I lived first at Emerald Bay and then at South Lake Tahoe, California, graduating from South Tahoe High School in 1966. After three tours of duty with the Air Force, I moved to Denver, Colorado where I lived with my wife and four children until her passing away from complications of breast cancer four days after the 9-11 terrorist attack.

I came out as a gay man in the summer of 2010. I find writing these memories to be therapeutic.

My story blog is TheTahoeBoy.Blogspot.com