Oh, family! If I can tell you the horror, the unmitigated gall, the devastation that exists in this realm…someone has stolen the cookies from my lunch bag! Lol. Okay, okay. I have to admit it’s funny now, but oh how upset was I to discover that my painstakingly baked chocolate chip delicacies were gone!
Last night, in true Winterfashion, in observance of the slight chill in the air and the need for something warm and filling, I made one of SuperBug’s favorite dinners..lasagna. I added broccoli as a side because he isn’t a fan of too many salads and complimented it with 5 cheese garlic bread (a huge family fav). As a special treat to the ones I love so dear…I baked chocolate chip cookies. Alright, alright….they weren’t my famous from scratch white chocolate chip cranberry cookies, but they were the next best thing…Refrigerated chocolate chip cookies!
SuperBug and I lovingly broke apart each tiny square and placed it ever so gently upon the foiled baking pan. We ushered it into the preheated oven and grinned at each other in anticipation as the aromatic smells of chocolate spread through the home. Yes, all was well with the world. When the cookies were done, I did that which has been a tradition of mine since childhood. I grabbed two after they cooled just slightly, paired them with ice cold milk, and sighed as the tantalizing texture tickled my taste buds. Wonderful.
Blessed with dinner leftovers, I packed lasagna and broccoli in my bag along with banana for breakfast and yogurt for snack. To cap everything off, I ever so gently two particularly beautiful spheres in a perfect transport (alright, alright…it was Tupperware…just stay with me!) and arranged it with care in my lunch bag. All was well with the world.
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| Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar? |
This morning, I transported all contents to the work refrigerator, placed the bag in my favorite spot, the lower quadrant, and went to be progressive in my day. When my tummy alerted me to the perfect time to indulge, I returned to my bag, removed the lasagna and broccoli, heated it, and returned to my desk with the bag. Remembering the two spheres I reached down to remove them and GASP! INSERT SCREAM OF HORROR! OH THE HUMANITY….THEY. WERE. GONE!!!!! (cue the sinister music and cackling laughter of the thief).
I was so upset. I couldn’t believe someone would go in my bag, erasing any possibility of saying they mistakenly ate my sweets, and kidnap that which was most anticipated. The world is indeed cruel. I emailed a very good friend of mine and her response changed my entire mood. She laughed out loud. Yep, she laughed. And I laughed too. Somehow it was hilarious that someone would go to the fridge, rummage through my bag, and take that which I wanted most…SWEETS.
While I have to admit, I am so NOT a fan of thievery, I am a fan of helping. I’d like to think that whomever it was that purloined my precious sweets were in dire straits and that the food was a welcome treat that gave energy. I really wish they’d have simply come to me. I would have been willing to share. One of my coworkers said something that made a very valid point.
He said that it really says something about a person’s character when they are able to take something that they know doesn’t belong to them. It isn’t the kind of person he would want to hire or have on his team or have working with him. Then, they said, the sad thing was the person probably was on his team (meaning they worked at the same company) and walked away.
I understood that. I remember when I was a little girl, I was walking through a store with my cousin, grandmother, and uncle and saw a Tarheel pin. It was very pretty and I wanted to give it to my grandmother. I didn’t think what I was doing was stealing. I simply thought I would take it and give to my grandmother and she would smile all big and beautiful. When we got home, I presented the pin to her and she asked where I got it. Her face took on a mixture of disappointment, sadness, and even fear. She explained that what I’d done was wrong. It was stealing. She explained that I should never do that ever. She knew I didn’t know any better as we rarely went out and it wasn’t ever discussed. So, she gave the pin to my uncle to return to the store. He did so and came back and had a stern talking to me.
I remember him saying that if I never had anything else in the world, I had my name. My name should always be pure and clean. It should always be associated with good things and not negative. It’s a lesson I’ve tried to keep every day of my life since that incident. I think others need to learn it too.
-WinterMommy
