GAINES TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A picture of a cake decorated at the Gaines Township Meijer is making the rounds on social media as people learn the story behind who created it.
Over the weekend, Lisa Aldrich posted a photo of a cake she purchased at Meijer. In her Facebook post, she said she asked an employee to decorate the cake for a birthday. After thanking the employee, she took it as it was and went to the checkout.
She wrote on Facebok she was surprised when she finally looked down at it.
“I nervously laughed and headed to check out— it didn’t really matter to me that it looked so bad—I thought people would think it was funny. The cashiers at the self check out didn’t think it was so funny.”
While paying for it, employees first told her they’d get her a new one, but she insisted she was fine with it. She then discovered who decorated it for her.
“To my surprise, after they discussed it, one cashier put her arm on my shoulder and said “the girl who wrote that has Autism. Thank you for smiling and thanking her- even though she’s not supposed to write on cakes, you probably made her day.”
The post on Facebook has been shared by people more than 100,000 times, including by some local autism groups. Lt. Governor Brian Calley retweeted a picture of the cake Tuesday afternoon as well.
A Meijer spokesperson confirmed the details of Aldrich’s story to FOX 17. The chain says it is proud to hire people with disabilities.
