_{You've got to know someone pretty well before you give them this.}

A paralegal has given her boss an excellent leaving gift, although it has divided public opinion.

The lawyer at Texas criminal law firm Dunham & Jones delighted her departing supervisor with a big cake bearing the message, “YOU’RE DEAD TO US WE HOPE YOU FAIL”.

For some reason they added bees. The firm did not respond to a request for comment, but plenty of people did when a colleague, Sara Spector, posted a photo of the cake on X and explained that “one of our lawyers quit our firm to go work for another firm. This was her going away cake today".

The comradely humour was too much for some. “I get it’s a joke but I don’t find this funny at all. I believe too much in the power of words and energy. I wouldn’t have eaten it”, said one killjoy.

Spector replied, “I don’t think you are an attorney so you wouldn’t have had her job nor do I think you could have had the emotional fortitude to defend some of our clients. So it’s all ok.”

In fact, as her post went viral, Spector was forced to clarify for hundreds of people that the cake was a joke and that “we are really upset she is leaving”.

“She knows we love her”, repeated the lawyer to one of many unable to comprehend gallows humour, to no avail. “Seems meanspirited and could be construed as harassment or an abusive work environment”, replied another poster.

Depsite the naysayers, the leaving party was undoubtedly jollier than the one heralded by this recrimination-packed email in 2021. 

What would you put on an honest cake for your boss? Let ROF know in the comments.

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