The Cookie Thief

This is one of my favorite poem/stories!

A woman was waiting at an airport one night,
with several long hours before her flight.

She hunted for a book in the airport shops,
bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

She was engrossed in her book but happened to see,
that the man sitting beside her, as bold as could be. . .

grabbed a cookie or two from the bag in between,
which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene.

So she munched the cookies and watched the clock,
as the gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock.

She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,
thinking, “If I wasn’t so nice, I would blacken his eye.”

With each cookie she took, he took one too,
when only one was left, she wondered what he would do.

With a smile on his face, and a nervous laugh,
he took the last cookie and broke it in half.

He offered her half, as he ate the other,
she snatched it from him and thought… oooh, brother.

This guy has some nerve and he’s also rude,
why he didn’t even show any gratitude!

She had never known when she had been so galled,
and sighed with relief when her flight was called.

She gathered her belongings and headed to the gate,
refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate.

She boarded the plane, and sank in her seat,
then she sought her book, which was almost complete.

As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise,
there was her bag of cookies, in front of her eyes.

If mine are here, she moaned in despair,
the others were his, and he tried to share.

Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,
that she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief.

How often have you absolutely known something for sure, only to find out later that you did not have all the information to truly understand?

We are quick to jump to conclusions. We do not want to find all the facts. We live in a world of immediate gratification and want it NOW!

4 Comments

  1. Alice Gerard on July 5, 2017 at 12:04 am

    What a sweet story. So sad that she didn’t understand how kind that man was until it was too late. That is true for so many of us.

    • Paul on September 17, 2017 at 12:45 pm

      I know there are plenty of times I am judgemental… that is what happens!

  2. Martha on July 5, 2017 at 3:46 pm

    Wow, I love this poem! I never thought it would end like that but this is so true in life and not just with cookies. Maybe it will open her eyes the next time she buys cookies.

    • Paul on September 17, 2017 at 12:47 pm

      Yes! When we are more accepting, we see the good things in life and do not necessarily jump to conclusions.

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