# Little Adolph denied a birthday cake. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 17, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506 "2008-12-17T02:45:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/101 "2008-12-17T16:23:14Z")
> [@CircleofWillis](#): > > In a sort of devil’s advocate way, would we be having this same conversation if a baker declined a customer’s request for little Anton Satan LaVey Campbell’s devil’s food cake? or what about Josef Stalin Campbell or little Pol Pot Campbell? Is the stores policy against all genocidal madmen or just one? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/102 "2008-12-17T16:25:00Z")
Well if I could only pick one, I’d go with Hitler. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/103 "2008-12-17T16:29:59Z")
I wonder if I can get away with naming my firstborn Nicky Ceaucescu A\*\*\*\*\*r. (The asterisked bit is my surname, not an expletive) ---
**Author:** ![CircleofWillis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/54ee81/32.png) [@CircleofWillis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CircleofWillis)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/104 "2008-12-17T16:34:10Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > or what about Josef Stalin Campbell or little Pol Pot Campbell? Is the stores policy against all genocidal madmen or just one? That’s kind of the point I guess… to a fundie baker, Anton Satan LaVey could be offensive, to a Cambodian baker Pol Pot may be even MORE offensive than Hitler. It’s all about the perspective of that person… In my opinion, it’s a private business. The decision of yay or nay is up to the Store Owner/ Manager/ Chief-Dick-In-Charge-Of-Frosting… for any reason…even little Paris Hilton Campbell’s Coach cake. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/105 "2008-12-17T16:41:48Z")
The kids dad says he isn’t racist, but in an article on MSNBC it states he is wearing boots worn by a German soldier in WW2. Doesn’t jive in my mind. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28269290/?gt1=43001](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28269290/?gt1=43001) Either way naming your kid adolph hitler isn’t doing him any favors. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/106 "2008-12-17T16:42:13Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > or what about Josef Stalin Campbell or little Pol Pot Campbell? Is the stores policy against all genocidal madmen or just one? Pol Pot Campbell sounds like a brand of instant soup. 😃 “If you liked our Croc pot recipies, you will _love_ our new Pol pot recipies!” ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/107 "2008-12-17T17:12:47Z")
There’s obviously no single definition as to which historical character should be _verboten_ for kid-naming purposes - it’s a continuum going from crazy-stupid-offensive to in-questionable-taste on through “you go, girl”, depending on the observer’s biases. I mean, Robert E. Lee Campbell? Eldridge Cleaver Campbell? Shaka Zulu Campbell? Genghis Khan Campbell? (Genghis is apparently a very popular name in Mongolia, and somewhat less so in Turkey). Nicholas Romanov Campbell? Abbie Hoffman Campbell? Aleister Crowley Campbell? Et cetera. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/108 "2008-12-17T17:13:14Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > To tell you the truth, i don’t understand why the cake shop wouldn’t just give this douchebag his cake with the kid’s name on it. In these hard economic times, his money spends as good as everyone else’s, and it’s not like you’re contributing to or enabling white supremacy by writing a name in frosted sugar on top of a cake. And as a bonus, you give him no cause for whining about “tolerance” and getting his ugly head on the national news. > > If he had asked for something like “Kill the Jews” or “Death to Niggers” or something, i’d be more inclined to refuse him, but in this case i think it’s probably just as easy for everyone if you ice the cake, take his money, and send his cracker ass home. The article I read said they’d tried before and had asked for a swatika as well, so yeah, I side with the shop ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/109 "2008-12-17T17:13:34Z")
Who the hell puts a kid’s full name on a birthday cake anyway? This just screams “attention whoring” to me. They’ve probably been trying this all over in the hopes that someone would refuse them so they’d get their 15 minutes of “fame”. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/110 "2008-12-17T17:13:50Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Since Quasi has previously posted that he is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s I wasn’t looking forward to more. Indeed. That was kind of painful. I don’t think it should be a get-out-of-arguments free card, but the fact is that **Quasi** ’s literally losing his mind, a little bit and a time, and I, for one, am more than willing to cut him a little slack. It must be a terrifying position to be in. **Quasi** , if you’re reading this, you were, IMHO, very impulsive and combative over the last 24 hours, not just in your arguing posts, but in assuming that one poster’s opinion speaks for the Dope in general and taking that as your cue to leave. I would really, really like you to take what time you need to regain your composure and then come back. But I do think that maybe you’ve outgrown The Pit. But, then again, that was yesterday and this morning, and who knows how you’ll be functioning next week. One of the hallmarks of early stage Alzheimer’s is that it “comes and goes” and confusion and combativeness may be present sometimes but not always. I think it’s worth it to have a trusted friend, whether IRL or another Doper, who you feel like you can believe if they see you posting in an uncharacteristic way. It won’t “win” you the argument with us - no one has an automatic win here - but it might help you. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/111 "2008-12-17T17:24:23Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Who the hell puts a kid’s full name on a birthday cake anyway? This just screams “attention whoring” to me. They’ve probably been trying this all over in the hopes that someone would refuse them so they’d get their 15 minutes of “fame”. Yup. And is it really so hard to buy a tube of frosting and speel it out yourslef? ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/112 "2008-12-17T17:24:42Z")
Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/113 "2008-12-17T17:34:41Z")
> [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](#): > > Yup. And is it really so hard to buy a tube of frosting and speel it out yourslef? You might have just answered your own question. 😃 Or was that a whoosh? ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/114 "2008-12-17T17:43:36Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > You might have just answered your own question. 😃 > > Or was that a whoosh? It’s gotta be a whoosh. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/115 "2008-12-17T17:55:51Z")
Das ist Luftwaffe voooosh. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/116 "2008-12-17T18:01:36Z")
For what it’s worth, I have good associations with a person named Dolph (not Dolph Lundgren, mind) so really it’s just the Hitler that’s screwed up. I wouldn’t look too askance at someone of, say, English or Germanic ancestry naming a kid Adolph if there were not any Hitlers involved. Then again, I rather doubt the grocery store would have a huge fit about putting HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADOLPH on a birthday cake. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HITLER BABY maybe not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/117 "2008-12-17T18:11:26Z")
> [@Omegaman](#): > > The kids dad says he isn’t racist, but in an article on MSNBC it states he is wearing boots worn by a German soldier in WW2. Doesn’t jive in my mind. > [@](#): > > [WARREN COUNTY, N.J. NEWS](http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/index.ssf?/base/news-0/122923112231930.xml&coll=3) > The Campbells have swastikas in each room of their home, the rented half of a one-story duplex just outside Milford, a borough in Hunterdon County. They say they aren’t racists but believe races shouldn’t mix. > > The Campbells said they wanted their children to have unique names and didn’t expect the names to cause problems. Despite the cake refusal, the Campbells said they don’t expect the names to cause problems later, such as when the children start school. > > I just figured that they’re just names," Deborah Campbell said. “They’re just kids. They’re not going to hurt anybody.” > > Heath Campbell said some people like the names but others are shocked to hear them. “They say, ‘He (Hitler) killed all those people.’ I say, ‘You’re living in the wrong decade. That Hitler’s gone,’” he said. > > “They’re just names, you know,” he said. “Yeah, they (Nazis) were bad people back then. But my kids are little. They’re not going to grow up like that.” > > “Other kids get their cake. I get a hard time,” he said. "It’s not fair to my children. > > “How can a name be offensive?” he asked. > > Robert M. Gordon, a clinical psychologist in Allentown, said the names would hurt the children. > > “Certainly society is going to be hostile towards those kids, especially when they go to school,” Gordon said. > > More than that, he said, the children would be harmed by their parents’ views. > > “By the time they get to school, they will already have been damaged,” Gordon said. “Any parent that would impose such horrific names on their children is mentally ill, and they would be affecting their children from the day they were born. Only a crazy person would do that.” > > The problems the children might encounter in school, he said, “would be icing on the cake.” > > :snip: > > The family car had swastikas, Heath Campbell said, until New Jersey’s Department of Children and Families told him they could endanger the children. > > The swastikas, Heath Campbell said, are symbols of peace and balance. He considers them art. > > “It doesn’t mean hatred to me,” he said. Deborah Campbell said a swastika “doesn’t really have a meaning. It’s just a symbol.” > > Heath Campbell said he doesn’t want to force his views on his children, in part because he had views forced on him. He said he also teaches them nonviolence. > > Abusive guardians, Heath Campbell said, used Bible verses to teach him to distrust blacks. If he questioned the guardians, he said, he was hit. He acknowledged he couldn’t challenge the guardians’ views. > > He said Adolf Hitler, Aryan Nation and Hinler would be able to make their own decisions about race. “[M]ake their own decisions about race”? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/118 "2008-12-17T18:12:18Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > So that’s a “no” response? > > You won’t _allow_ me to tell you, “okay, I may have screwed up. Let’s see if I did.”? > > Even if she agrees with you, it won’t be accepted - because if she agrees with you, it will mean she has explained what I misunderstood? > > You won’t accept that, though I will? > > There’s something you aren’t grasping, and that is if I am making logistical mistakes _already_ to the point of defending myself _in error_ then that is very frightening to me. > > I see myself as offering an olive branch, and I see you as turning your back and walking away. > > I don’t know what else to do or say. Quasi…man, you need to quit fighting this thing. Just let it be. Go post happy things in MPSIMS, or something. I know you’ve “temporarily suspended” yourself. Nobody wants to see you go. You’re a decent guy. It’s just…this was not one of your better moments. It will pass. Most of us have posted things that didn’t turn out well at one time or another. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/119 "2008-12-17T18:17:20Z")
I’m actually sort of inclined now to wonder what the breaking point is for an inappropriate cake. JESUS HATES YOU I LOVE SATAN KILL SOME ARABS MEAT IS MURDER HASTUR HASTUR HASTUR ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506/120 "2008-12-17T18:22:07Z")
I think most cake makers might struggle with Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-adolph-denied-a-birthday-cake/477506.md?page=7)