Perils of Eating Cookies

At an airport one night
With several long hours
Before her flight.

She hunted for a book
In the airport shop,
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... ooh, 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!

—Author Unknown


Although I have heard this poem only once or twice before, and it was a very long time ago, today it popped right into my mind. After a quick google search, I found it and had to post it along with the play by play of the last 24 hours. I hope by the end of my post, you will understand why.

I made a new friend named Debra. (I don't know how to spell her name for sure, but that is how I imagine it is spelled.) I met her at aerobics a while ago, and recently I invited her to attend our early morning, Wednesday temple trips. I was excited when two weeks ago, she came with me and my good friend Becky. We had a wonderful time and on the way home, Debra, being the sweetheart she is, offered to drive the next time we went to the temple together. A week had passed and I saw Debra at aerobics and again we talked about our next temple trip planned for the following Wednesday and how she was planning to drive us there.

Debra has a truck with a cab big enough to hold either 4 or 5 people. (I'm still not quite sure how many it can hold) I had a concern that there was a possibility that we might have more people interested in coming to the temple than we had seats. In that case, we would need to find another, larger vehicle to take us. I sent an e-mail wanting to know who would be interested in coming to the temple and if there would be anyone else willing to drive. (I drove last time and gas isn't cheap!) My sweet friend Heather texted me and said that she would be willing to drive and to let her know who was coming. I texted Heather, letting her know that Debra had offered to drive, but I asked if she would be willing to be a back-up driver, just in case.

Last night I had a confirmed count of 5 ladies going to the temple this morning, so I decided to touch base with Debra to make sure things were okay. I texted her. This is how it went down (I have been given permission to share):

Me: Hi Debra. So far I have counted 5 of us going to the Temple tomorrow. Remind me again..Is that too many to fit in your truck? If so, my friend Heather said she could take us in her van. Let me know and I will let her know.

Debra: Hi. Um....Did we talk about this already? My truck takes me plus four. I can drive if I will get home in time for school. What time do you get back?

Me: (thinking *hmmm, Debra seems a little annoyed at my question. I know I have asked her before about how many her truck can hold, but I forgot...maybe she is having a bad day*)
"Yes we talked about it but I couldn't remember if it was 4 passengers plus the driver, or 4 people including the driver...sorry I'm such a flake. When we went last, I pulled into my driveway at 7:40.

Debra: Ok. That will get me to school ok. What time do we leave? Where do we meet?

Me: (Thinking *wow Debra's memory is worse than mine*)
How about I'll meet you at my church at 5:10 and we can pick up the others together....they live close to the church.

Debra: "Ok. I hope no one minds if my truck makes a noise. I have a squeaky belt. I am sorry I don't remember talking numbers" :0)

Me: (Thinking *would she rather someone else drive if she is worried about her truck? ...maybe I should give her a way out of driving...no I will let her drive and if she would rather not, I'll let her say so.*)
"I'm sure nobody minds so long as it gets us there. :0) I feel sometimes my brain is so overloaded, I don't know my right hand from my left. :0)Just so long as I remember to feed the kids and get them to where they need to be, I feel I'm doing good."
(Sympathy to say,* me too, I'm forgetful too and a little crazy, especially when stressed*)
"Thank you for being willing to take a turn driving. I will see you bright and early." :0)

Debra: "Sounds good" :0)

I went to bed, and got up this morning at 4:30 to get ready to go. At 5:00, I heard a text come in on my phone. It was Debra. This is what she said:

Debra: "Hi Tiffany, are you going this morning?"

Tiffany: (*um didn't we establish that last night?*) "Yes"

Debra: "Do you want me to drive?"

Tiffany: (*Lady you must be crazy!*) "Would that be okay?"

Debra: "Yes, I'll meet you at the church"

Tiffany (*I know!*)"K I'll meet you there."

At this point, I finally figured that something was not quite right. You see, I have another new friend named Debra. I don't know if that is how you spell her name, but that is how it is programmed into my phone. I met Debra (we'll call her Debra C.) a few months ago at church, and she is the sweetest gal. She is a ninth grade English teacher. A couple of weeks ago at church I invited her to come to the temple, but knowing she is a teacher, I said, "plan on it when you get out of school for the summer break." (I assumed that she wouldn't make it in time for school if she came to the temple in the morning.) She had no idea about this particular temple trip we had planned until I had texted her by accident. She gave me the benefit of a doubt and went along with my plans. (She just happens to drive a truck like Debra B.)

At 5:10 I realized I had texted the wrong Debra! Debra B had texted me in the morning truly wondering if I was going to the temple, because I hadn't made contact with her the night before like I have in the past. I woke Nathan up with my confusion, and then realized what happened. He laughed and I'm sure wondered how this was all going to play out.

I drove to the church and found Debra C., all ready to drive us to the temple. When I pulled up, I was anxious to run to tell her that I had realized my mistake and that I really wasn't crazy (that's debateable) and that I didn't mean to sound like I expected her to drive us all to the temple. I rambled on and on and then quickly jumped out of the truck to grab my wallet out of my purse and realized that my wallet was missing. I thought and thought and then realized that I had babysat for my friend, Sherrie, the day before and had left it in her baby's diaper bag. It's 5:15 in the morning and my temple recommend is in my wallet at someone else's house. Without it, I wouldn't be able to enter the temple. I texted sweet Sherrie, and bless her heart, she texted me back said that she had my wallet. I felt sooo bad for waking her up, but was so grateful that I could go to the temple afterall! Just then Debra B. pulled into the parking lot, all ready to drive. I said, "Hi Debra! This is Debra. Get in and I'll explain."

Then my friend Heather texted me:

Heather: "Hi! I'm at your house. R u still here?"

Me: "I'm at the church"

(Heather didn't get my text from the night before. I think I need to take a class on texting! I probably sent it to someone in China, So bless her heart, she went to my house ready to pick me up.) She received my text that we were at the church and headed over there. When she arrived, I said, "Get in" We're going to pick up Becky."

At about 5:25, we picked up Becky. She ran outside and hopped in. I briefly filled her in on the happenings of that morning. We drove to Sherrie's to pick up my wallet, and then were finally on our way.

We went around the block and suddenly I heard a gasp from the back seat. It was Becky. "I'm wearing my slippers!", she exclaimed. (In her rush out the door, she forgot to put on her dress shoes.) We were already late, so she said she would go like that. So off we went, 2 Debras, Heather, Becky in her slippers, and me (the truly crazy one), to the temple. It was the funniest ride to the temple ever. I explained the whole mistaken identity situation and had such a fun time reading the texts and getting everyones point of view. I think I haven't laughed that hard since I was a kid. (It felt good!)

Thanks ladies for putting up with my Shenanigans. I'm sorry Debra B. for thinking you were crazy! I'm sorry Debra C to make you feel like you had to be the chauffeur. I'm sorry Heather for sending you on a wild goose chase to find us. Sorry Becky that you had to go to the temple in your slippers! I'm sorry Sherry for disturbing you at 5:30 in the morning!

I'm so grateful that despite it all, we made it to the temple. I obviously didn't realize how badly I needed to go until after this morning. (To learn why temples are so important to me and my friends, visit http://lds.org/church/temples)

It was such a funny, sweet experience and it has left me chuckling all day! I don't know if this is funny just to me, however, in all seriousness, I've learned that it is always good, before jumping to conclusions and thinking someone is crazy, to ask, "Is it I?" (Because in my case, the answer will most likely be, yes.)

I think I'll go out and buy a box of cookies to share.

Love,

Tiffany

Comments

  1. That is such a funny story. I can't wait to be able to go to the Temple again. I just think it is a bit soon to leave my little one for a few hours, especially since he likes to eat during that time. :) Hope you guys are having a great time Wednesday mornings.

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  2. That's hilarious! We all have days like that sometimes! Uncle Don says: they should just talk on the phone. I responded: then there wouldn't be great funny memories like this! Looking forward to seeing you guys this summer!

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  3. What a cute story! Oh the times my mind has done some strange things. Reminds me to think twice, react (act) once. I've loved that story about the cookies too!
    PS I'd like to go to the temple with you guys sometime.

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