Ever lost a day crossing the Pacific and felt time slide out from under you? That surreal airport feeling sets the stage for a tiny story with a giant punch: The Cookie Thief by Valerie Cox. We start with jet lag and time math—leaving on a Tuesday and arriving Tuesday night—then steer into a simple misread at a gate that becomes a mirror for how our minds fill in blanks. A mistaken phone, a near‑stolen fry, and a stranger’s quiet kindness all point to one truth: assumptions make loud noise; presence speaks softly and is usually right.
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Episode Transcript
Welcome to Let It Be Easy with Susie Moore.
When I was in Sydney airport,gosh, what day was it?
It's so bizarre when you travelfrom Sydney to America because
you leave on the same, you leaveon what uh on say a Tuesday and
(00:21):
you arrive Tuesday night, eventhough it's a 24-hour flight.
And if you fly here to Sydneyfrom Miami to Sydney, say you
leave on a Sunday, you arrive ona Tuesday.
You uh you you you miss a wholeday.
It's endlessly confusing to me.
And it just also makes me think,wow, the world, what time is it?
Who cares?
(00:42):
The present moment is all thatcounts wherever you are, no
matter what.
And as I was in Sydney Airportthis week, um, about to board my
flight, I heard a woman next tome.
She was sitting um on a chairnext to another woman.
She went, Oh my gosh, I'm sosorry.
And I kind of spun around andhad a look at what she was
(01:04):
apologizing for.
And I wasn't sure if she tookone of the woman's fries or if
she went to take the woman'sphone, but she mistook either
fries or a phone for her own.
I think we've all done that.
I've taken someone else's phone.
I even once took someone else'slaptop at airport security
because we both had the samesilver Mac and he came running
(01:24):
after me.
And it it reminded me of thispoem that I love, that I just
love so much.
I'm pretty sure I've shared thison the podcast before, but it
would have been a couple ofyears ago.
And it's a poem called TheCookie Thief by Valerie Cox.
I'm gonna read it to you heretoday and take from this what
(01:45):
you will, my friends.
I think there are a millionlessons in this, but I will read
it and kick it to you.
A woman was waiting at anairport one night with several
long hours before her flight.
She hunted for a book in theairport shops, bought a bag of
cookies, and found a place todrop.
She was engrossed in her book,but happened to see that the man
(02:07):
sitting beside her, as bold ascould 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 andwatched the clock as the gutsy
cookie thief diminished herstock.
She was getting more irritatedas the minutes ticked by,
(02:29):
thinking if I wasn't so nice Iwould blacken his eye.
With each cookie she took, hetook one too.
When only one was left, shewondered what he would do.
With a smile on his face and anervous laugh, he took the last
cookie and broke it in half.
Oh my gosh.
(02:51):
He offered her half as he atethe other.
She snatched it from him andthought, Oh brother, this guy
has some nerve and he's so rude.
He didn't even show anygratitude.
She had never known when she hadbeen so galled, and sighed with
relief when her flight wascalled.
(03:12):
She gathered her belongings andheaded to the gate, refusing to
look back at the thievingingrate.
She boarded the plane and sankin 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 infront of her eyes.
(03:35):
F minor here, she moaned indespair, the others were his,
and he tried to share.
Too late to apologize, sherealized with grief that she was
the rude one.
The ingrate, the thief.
(03:56):
Until tomorrow, my friends.
So much.
Love and ease.
Hey friend, I've got somethingreally cool for you.
I want to give you free accessto my signature course called
Slay Your Year, which typicallysells for$997.
You can check it out, all thedetails at slayyouryear.com.
(04:18):
All you have to do to get accessis leave me a review.
Leave a review of this podcaston Apple Podcasts.
Take a snapshot of it and sendit to info at suzy more.com.
That's info at susie more.com,and we'll get you set up with
access.
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