This is an edited version of David Ratcliffe’s original “The Cookie Thief” movie, cut to fit the poem by Valerie Cox.  Both the poem and movie have been changed from their original versions to work together for the Welcome Back To School event for Cajon Valley Union School District.  Please share with our kids the next time they need a lesson on perspective and mindset…

The Cookie Thief

by Valerie Cox

Adapted for the video by David Ratcliffe

A man was waiting at an airport one night, with several long hours before his flight. He hunted for a paper in the airport shop,

bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

He was engrossed in his paper but happened to see, that the man sitting beside him, as bold as could be. . .

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

So he munched the cookies and watched the clock, as the gutsy cookie thief diminished his stock.

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

With each cookie he took, he took one too, when only one was left, he 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 him half!!!  As he ate the other!  He snatched it from him and thought… Ohhh, brother!

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

The cookie thief stood, and rose from his seat.  Then the man drank his milk, which was almost complete.

As she reached for his coat, he gasped with surprise, there was his bag of cookies, in front of his eyes.

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

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