Graduation is a special rite of passage. It's the chance for people to cross the threshold from high school into real life and deserves to be celebrated with music, friends, and of course cake.
However, when one South Carolina mother ordered a cake to celebrate her son's graduation, she was upset after discovering the cake was "ruined" by Publix's online ordering system.
According to a Facebook post from Cara Koscinski, she decided to order a graduation cake for her son Jacob, after he earned a 4.79 GPA in his Christian-based home-schooling program and awarded a full scholarship for North Carolina's Wingate University.
For his graduation party, Koscinski decided to order a sheet cake from Publix's online ordering system - requesting that it include the message "summa cum laude," in recognition of the high grades Jacob had received.
However, Publix's system refused to recognize 'cum,' deeming it obscene, instead of using the Latin translation. The online ordering system automatically inserted three dashes in place of 'cum.'
Koscinski says she didn't get to see the cake until it was revealed at her son's graduation party where it was revealed to read "summa --- laude.'
"How utterly ridiculous," Cara wrote in a post on Facebook that has since gone viral. "Shame on your 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."
Koscinski writes that she even explained the meaning of the phrase in the 'special instructions' box to make sure the store would get it right. Jacob's mother says her son was "humiliated" over the situation.
Publix has offered to redo the cake, but Koscinski refused, since the graduation party had already happened. Instead, she received her $70 back, and a store gift card.