The Cookie Thief

By Valerie Cox

Below is the text version, but if you simply want to watch the 2+ minute video...Copy and paste the following link in your browser (well worth it!): https://youtu.be/_MnKjnAF1LQ

Every once in a while you may hear or read something that must be shared...This is one of those situations. Everytime I hear this poem I chuckle at the end. And anything that can make a person smile, is so special. I'd like to share the smiles with you to start your day.

The Cookie Thief by Valerie Cox is a humourous little story/poem about about when we have twisted assumptions, judgments and perceptions. And its one of my favourites.

The actual story of the cookie thief perhaps owes its origin to Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish”, 1984, where he tells the same story based on his own real experience set in a train station and involving a biscuit rather than a cookie. (Though they mean the same, biscuit=cookie in the UK). There are also similar stories that have appeared in British newspapers in the 1970s.

I think this is so true....“The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of a doubt, what is laid before him.” by Leo Tolstoy, 1894

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” (Unknown author – But possibly, Mark Twain.)

It goes like this...Enjoy!

The Cookie Thief by Valerie Cox

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.

After hearing/reading the poem, I could totally relate to the many times in which I have hastily and mistakenly passed judgment of a situation or of a person. I think many of us (being human) are guilty of this. We make assumptions and judgments without having all the facts. Possibly, just part of the human dilemma.

In stressful situations we can all learn something from this simple poem. Whether it be in traffic or an argument with a loved one. I took away having more patience. And instead of anger, or what Alanon calls, "volcano" when one explodes with ridiculous accusations that one doesnt really mean to say, just from pure anger and rage of keeping things in, so not to 'disturb the peace', but it emerges unbeknownst to the person "volcano-ing". These days, when I can remind myself of The Cookie Thief, I smile, I take a breath, and smile to myself!

The poem offers various lessons

Do you look at every angle of each situation? Do you question your own assumptions? Do you react without first fully analyzing the situation? Do you seek to understand before making a judgment? Do you make a conclusion and stick to it, unwilling to challenge your own bias? Are you such a black and white thinker that compromise is not in your vocabulary? - Wayne Dyer

More of my personal favourites can be found in the reading and teachings of so many amazing speakers on the internet and in books....Abraham Hicks, Joe Dispenza, Noah Levine, Oprah Winfrey, Wayne Dyer, Louise Hay, Tony Robbins, Eckart Tolle, Gary Zukav, Dr. Edward Viljoen and so many more. These are just a few of my faves. You can check them all out easily, on You Tube.

"Life is packed with amazement. Stay curious!" - Dr. Edward Viljoen Happy Sunday from The Music Soup! 💜

With peace, love, art and music,

Cheryl