Three Walmart workers in McDonough, Georgia refused to decorate a “thin blue line” cake for a police officer’s retirement party because they said it was racist.
A number of my Georgia readers alerted me to the story and on Saturday night I spoke directly with the police officer’s daughter. She asked that I not divulge her name and I’ve agreed to honor her request.
“I was so shocked,” she told me. “I didn’t know what to do or say or anything. I was trying not to lose my temper or make a scene.”
For the record, Walmart has confessed that most of her allegations are true. I’ll have more on that a bit later in this column.
The police officer’s daughter went to the Walmart on Willow Drive on Sept. 22 to order a flag for her father’s retirement party. He was leaving the force after 25-years on the job.
She showed the bakers a photograph of the police officer’s flag—the black and white version of Old Glory with a blue line.
“One of the bakers told me the design could be perceived as racist and nobody feels comfortable decorating the cake,” the police officer’s daughter told me.
As an alternative, she suggested a chocolate-frosted cake with a horizontal, frosted blue line.
But that design was also rejected by Walmart’s cake decorator.
“She said, ‘I don’t feel comfortable doing this,'” the cop’s daughter told me. “I asked her, ‘Is there something wrong with cops?'”
After being rejected for a third time, the 21-year-old told the bakers, “I’ll find another bakery, thank you.”
She was much more polite than I would’ve been, folks.
“I was disappointed,” she told me. “I go to Walmart all the time—at least once a week spend hundreds of dollars. I just wanted to make my dad a cake to show how much I appreciated him.”
A friend of the family posted an item about the incident on Facebook and it wasn’t long before the Walmart store manager called the police officer’s wife and daughter—and apologized.
“He said he was so sorry,” the daughter told me. “He offered to make the cake free of charge and he gave me a $50 gift card.”
A Walmart corporate spokesperson confirmed most of the story.
“Our goal is to always take care of customers,” the spokesperson told me. “But, sometimes we misstep. We’re glad we were able to connect with the family to apologize and make this right.”
Walmart did not say if one of their associates called the cake racist.
“I can confirm an associate made a mistake that has since been corrected for the customer,” the spokesperson told me.
So how did Walmart right their wrong? The answer to that question is going to curdle your Fruit Loops, folks.
The manager offered to make and decorate a new cake. But there was just one problem—the cake decorators refused to comply.
“So the manager told me that he would decorate it—but it looked terrible,” the police officer’s daughter said. “It doesn’t look professional.”
I’ve attached photographs of Walmart’s handiwork—it’s absolutely embarrassing and unacceptable.
“I work in retail,” the officer’s daughter told me. “If I didn’t want to deal with a customer—and said ‘No’—I would get fired.”
Unfortunately, her father’s retirement party is Sunday night, so there’s no time to go elsewhere.
“It irritates me that in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Walmart was looted and the cops were protecting them,” she said. “And you can’t make a cake for the people who are protecting you?”
Walmart needs to make this right and they can start by delivering a professionally decorated cake to the police officer’s family.
The three cake decorators need to be told: Either decorate the cake or be fired.
Just because Walmart is the home of low prices, doesn’t mean they have to hire a bunch of low-class, anti-cop bigots.
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