I have worked for a tech company for 4 years now, and for 3 of those years, I made my signature homemade cupcakes I call ‘Cakkies’ on my birthday. They’re a mix of a strawberry cheesecake cookie and a red velvet muffin. I would make them with real strawberries, white chocolate and a cream cheese frosting. The first year I made them, no one knew it was my birthday as I was the new girl, and had only been there for about a month. I thought they’d be a good ice breaker and a chance for me to get to know my colleagues. Everyone absolutely loved them and at least half of the people on my floor asked for the recipe. The recipe is my own and I didn’t want to give it out, but promised to make my cupcakes the following year. I should probably also mention that for Birthdays, everyone pools some money to buy a birthday card, and everyone at work signs it. I hadn’t even made the cupcakes because I wanted a card, but simply because I wanted to do something nice and integrate myself into the team. So my second birthday at the company comes around and I bring in a batch of my cupcakes for the 50+ people on my floor. As soon as I get to my desk I was swarmed. Everyone wanted a cupcake. I’m still surprised I was able to hold onto the box. After people had gone back to their own desk I was kind of hurt. A few people had thrown a quick “Happy Birthday” at me, but nobody bothered to stay past that. Not even to hand me a birthday card. A girl I work with had gotten hers just the week before. I was hurt I didn’t get one because I knew they hadn’t forgotten it was my birthday, as the day before, multiple people had asked if I was making my cupcakes again this year. I decided not to let it get to me and carried on with my day. Well the next year came around and the same thing happened again. Multiple people came around my desk and asked if I would be making my cupcakes again. I said yes and made a point of saying I enjoy making them for everyone FOR MY BIRTHDAY! I hoped that would be enough of a hint, only to be disappointed the following Tuesday morning to find no card on my desk. At this point I wasn’t even hurt. I was p!ssed! Everyone knew it was my birthday and everyone else had gotten a card for theirs. Right there and then I decided that would be the last time I made cupcakes for everyone on my floor. When my birthday came around this year, once again, multiple people asked if I’d be baking again this year. I immediately said No. Word got around quickly and throughout the entire morning I had people coming up to my desk to ask me why I wasn’t making my cupcakes this year. I said with inflation, the cost of the butter, eggs and strawberries just weren’t budget friendly for my salary this month. I thought that was it, but, about an hour went by, and a guy I work with named James came up to my desk and said he had good news. Apparently everyone in the office had agreed to pool money together to cover the cost of the ingredients! He even added that some people had thrown in extra so maybe I could even make a double batch! I was livid. I snapped and said Absolutely Not! I wasn’t going to be making them anymore. James looked shocked and asked why. I told him it was because I felt like it was ridiculous everyone would forget my birthday card, but no one would forget to ask if I was making cupcakes. I carried on and said everyone else always got a card for their birthday and I hadn’t in the last 4 years I had been working there and how it was unfair for them to expect me to pay almost 200 dollars for ingredients but no one could even be bothered to get me a birthday card from the dollar store. Now everyone is calling me childish and saying I’m too old to be making such a fuss about a birthday card. My boss even got involved and offered to cover the entire cost of the ingredients so I could bake them, just so “we can keep the peace.” I flat out refused and I got evil sneers and glares from everyone at work. The tension since then has been awful and even though I feel like I’m in the right, the tension is making me feel uncomfortable. A few friends I have discussed this with are divided 50/50. Should I have just bitten the bullet and made them or do I stand my ground?