Do You Bake?

So yesterday I was in the supermarket in the baking aisle, looking at food coloring. Another lady, about my age, in the same aisle was looking at boxed cake mixes. Somehow I must have looked like I knew what I was doing, because she came over to me with a pretty standard cake mix in her hand and said, timidly, "Excuse me, do you bake?"

I answered, "Yeeeesssss ..." (reservedly, because I am far from an expert baker -- heck, I don't even make pie crust! and I wondered, during this split second between my answer and her next question, if she was going to ask me something really, really hard). She asked, "Can I use this mix to make cupcakes?"

Whew! I knew that one. I told her that yes, she could, but the baking time would be less than for a layer cake, and that she should check the instructions on the box because many times they tell you how long to bake it according to pan size or whatever and the time for cupcakes may very well be on the box. She look relieved, thanked me, and walked away.

Wow. I guess a lot of people really don't bake nowadays. At ALL. I envision the poor lady picking her child up from school and learning she has to take two dozen cupcakes to school the next day and being at a total loss, not knowing quite what to do ...