The Cookie Thief by Valerie Cox

Pictured: Some of my favorite cookies - Walker's Highlanders Shortbread. Aunt Cathy introduced me to them a few years ago - very hard to find in our area. They aren't very sweet, but the crystalline sugar on the edge of each cookie makes them irresistable!

I heard this story for the first time many years ago, and I suspect it's very well known, but just in case you haven't stumbled across it yourself, I thought I'd share. Its interesting message is told in a fun, memorable way.

The Cookie Thief - by Valerie Cox

A woman was waiting at an airport one night

With several long hours before her flight.

She hunted a book in the airport shop,

Bought a bag of cookies, and found a place to drop.

Though engrossed in her book, she happened to see when

The man 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.

She munched cookies and watched the clock

While this gutsy thief diminished her stock.

She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,

Thinking, "If I weren't so nice, I'd blacken his eye."

With each cookie she took, he took one, too.

When only one was left, she wondered what he'd 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 ,

"Oh brother! This guy has some nerve, and he's also rude -

Why he didn't even try to show gratitude!"

She didn't know when she'd been so galled

And sighed with relief when her flight was called.

She gathered belongings to head for the gate,

Refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate.

When she boarded the plane, she sank in her seat

Then 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 with despair,

"Then 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.