CHARLESTON, SC -- Jacob Kosinski has a lot to celebrate after graduating from his Christian-based home-school program summa cum laude with a 4.89 grade-point average.
His mom, Cara Koscinski planned a graduation party for her 18-year-old son and ordered a cake from Publix for the big occasion.
Koscinski ordered the cake online and provided the information she wanted on the cake. She wanted it to say "Congrats Jacob! Summa Cum Laude class of 2018." When she typed the message into the cake message option, the Publix website didn't' like the middle word in the phrase.
The website put three hyphens in its place, so the finished cake read "Congrats Jacob! Summa --- Laude, class of 2018."
Koscinski explained the meaning of the word in the special instructions box on the website and ordered the cake. She even pointed out that "the system is mistaking the word 'cum' for something inappropriate vs. Latin."
Koscinski sent her husband to pick up the cake before the celebration, and when he returned from the store, the lines remained in place of "Cum." Koscinski shared her frustration on Facebook and said her son, Jacob, "was humiliated!!!"
"Shame on 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 called Publix and explained the situation to the assistant manager. Publix offered to give them a replacement cake but Cara declined. Instead, the grocery store gave Cara a refund for the cake and a store gift card.
