Publix, the Southeastern grocery store chain, is known for their homemade cakes to celebrate any occasion. Whether its a wedding or a baby shower, the grocery store boasts a variety of customizable cakes. However, when Cara Koscinski of Charleston, South Carolina ordered a cake to celebrate her son Jacob's graduation, one key phrase was left out.
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Earning a 4.89 grade-point average, Cara was thrilled to place an order for the cake to read, "Congrats Jacob! Summa Cum Laude class of 2018". Using the online form via Publix.com, Cara typed in the phrase but was stopped by the computer stating that the bakery could not process the order due to profanity.
Cara also took to the special instructions section to explain the situation about the latin word. However the graduation cake still turned up at the party missing the word, "cum" and reading "Congrats Jacob! Summa ---Laude Class of 2018."
On the day of the graduation party Jacob's father and sister picked up the cake from their Publix super market and opened the box when they got home. They discovered that the cake was missing an important element and Cara went on to share than she had to explain the mistake to family members.
"Shame on you Publix for turning an innocent Latin phrase into a total embarrassment for having to explain to my son and others (including my 70 year old mother) about this joke of a cake. My son was humiliated!!!" Cara was not happy.
The phrase Summa Cum Laude is regarded as the highest distinction one can earn while in school. This honor is only given to the top 1-5% of the class and is considered a high honor in the education community.
Cara reached out to Publix to file a complaint in case this would happen again to other graduates. An assistant manager apologized and offered to remake the cake, which Cara declined stating, "No, you only graduate once."
In response the chain refunded her $70 for the cake plus a gift card.
