Several years ago I went on a trip to NYC. It was my first time in a big city and I was very excited. One of the things I really wanted to to do was to go to a certain famous bakery (I wanted to be a pastry chef) and have their famous European style pasticcini. Pasticcini are little bite-size Italian pastries and you usually sample a variety of them. When I went to the bakery I ordered a dozen assorted pastries and a coffee intending to eat there (the bakery had a seating area). The cashier glared at me when paid for my order and asked me where “the rest of my group” was. I said I was alone. She then asked if I had made a mistake with my order since “no one eats a dozen cakes alone”. I was mortified and pointed out that pasticcini are not cakes as they are one, maybe two, bites each. The cashier sneered at me and said “whatever fatty”. I got very angry and asked to see the manager. The cashier called the manager but then told him that I was being belligerent and that I threatened her. When I denied this and told him what really happened the manager told me to leave and threatened to call the police. As I was leaving I heard the cashier tell the manager “you know fat people can’t control themselves around cake” and they both laughed. Fighting back tears I went back to my hotel room.

This incident completely ruined my trip and made me decide not to become a pastry chef because I did not want people to look at me and say “figures she likes cake”.