A woman waited in an airport lounge and took out cookies and a book to read. A man sat next to her and helped himself to her cookies without asking. Annoyed, she assumed the man was rudely stealing her cookies. When she boarded her flight and opened her purse, she discovered her unopened packet of cookies, realizing she had been mistaken about the man taking her cookies all along since they had remained in her purse. The story illustrates how easily we can jump to wrong conclusions and how important it is to listen to others rather than always insisting we are right.

1. The
Cookie
Thief

2. How many times did it happen to you
to know something for sure and later on
to realize how wrong you were?
There isn’t a single person on this planet
that did not experience something like this.
Here is the story….

3. A young lady was waiting for her flight
in the boarding room of a big airport.

4. As she would need to wait many hours,
she decided to buy a book to spend her time.
She also bought…

5. a packet of cookies.

6. She sat down in an armchair, in the VIP room
of the airport, to rest and read in peace.

7. Beside the armchair where the packet of
cookies lay, a man sat down in the next seat,
opened his magazine and started reading.

8. When she took out the first cookie,
the man took one also.
She felt irritated
but said noting.

9. She Just thought :
“What a nerve! If
I was in the mood
I would punch him
for daring!”

10. For each cookie she took, the man took
one too. This was infuriating her but
she didn’t want to cause a scene.

11. When only one cookie remained,
she thought:
“ah…what this abusive
man do now?”

12. Then, the man, taking the last cookie,
divided it into half, giving her one half.

13. Ah! That was too much!
She was much too angry now!
In a huff, she took her book, her things
and stormed to the boarding place.

14. When she sat down in her seat, inside
the plane, she looked into her purse to
take her eyeglasses, to her surprise…

15. her packet of
cookies was there
untouched
unopened

16. She felt so ashamed. She realized that
she was wrong. She had forgotten that
her cookies were kept in her purse.

17. And now there was no chance to
Explain herself nor to apologize.

18. We like to think we know everything and
we like to know that we are always right.
This is who we are,
this is what we all do.

19. Try not to laugh at what people might
have to say if what they tell you is
not in accordance with your beliefs.
You never know what truths
you might find out later.
You never know.

20. We can’t be experts in all the areas of life.
We need to listen to what others have to say.
We need to listen more and talk less.

21. You just don’t know
what you don’t know,
you know?