Who Stole My Cookies?

It happened one day at Chicagos OHare airport. A young lady was waiting in the departure lounge for the boarding announcement of her delayed flight. It was a Friday evening, and she was looking forward to getting home, and to the dinner date with her boyfriend. Just awe bit impatient with the delay, she walked across to a kiosk and bought herself a pack of her favourite cookies-almond and raisin specials! Spotting a seat adjacent to a convenient table-like space, she quickly settled in and pulled out her laptop, hoping to finish the presentation she had been working on. She took one bite of the cookie, then another . . . the cookie was quickly gone! As she reached out for a second cookie, she was taken aback to find that the man on the next seat was helping himself to one too, without even the courtesy of May I please . . .! What a weird man, she thought to herself, biting into another cookie. She tried to focus on her work but was quickly distracted by the slight of that shirtsleeve reaching out yet again and grabbing another cookie! Was he being friendly? Was he being a bully? Was he a thief? A million angry thoughts crossed her mind, and she was tempted to pull the pack of cookie away and give a piece of her mind to the man. She held herself back but only just. She threw him one of those glazed looks that seemed to combine scorn, anger and disgust. The man only smiled. And this went on. Shes take a cookie, and so would he. Until it was down to the last cookie. As she eyed it, the man quickly grabbed it, split it into two and gave her a half. She took the cookie and was about to stand up, yell and create a scene when she heard the announcement of her flight being ready of departure. She got up, grabbed her bags and headed off towards the boarding gate, still angry, very angry with the man who stole her cookies. She got into the aircraft, found her way to her window seat and to get her mind off the wretched guy, she decided to immerse herself in a book. Better to lose mys elf in a world of make-believe rather than think of real-world demons! and she reached into her handbag to pull out her reading glasses . . . Guess what she found in her handbag? Her pack of cookies. The almond-and-raisin specials! Oh no! she sighed. Those two words escaped her lips as she sank into her seat. And she realized what had really transpired, she felt terrible. She had been eating the other guys cookies! And shed been so rude to him. And shed thought he was such a terrible guy. And the man- no, that gentleman, she corrected herself- had smiled through it all, even as a stranger ate his cookies. She got up instinctively to see if the man was on the same flight, so she could atleast apologize for her behavior and thank him for the cookies. But he was nowhere in sight. You may think this is a nice little story about a remarkable coincidence involving other people in a faraway land. No! What happened that evening in Chicago between a man, a woman and a pack of cookies happens to you and me, to all of us, all the time. With cookies, or without.

We go through our lives feeling that other people are taking advantage of us, of our talents, stealing our cookies. We seldom pause to think about how we depend on others, on their support, their cookies. Not just that. Often, the cookies we think of as our own actually belong to others. We worry, we fume when we see someone else get credit for what we think of as our achievements. And yet we happily bask in the glory of recognition for achievements that were clearly the result of other peoples support. No problem with that! Joint ventures and business partnership are witnesses to several such moments of stolen cookies. Each side feels the other side is stealing its cookies. Success, however, lies in thinking like that man at OHare. Share those cookies, and keep smiling. My friend Decdutt Pattanaik sums it up beautifully. A doctor by training, Devdutt has chosen to pursue his passion for Indian mythology. He draws parallel between mythology and the modern workplace, culling lessons for all of us. He says the world is full of cows and dogs. More dogs, fewer cows. Cows are the givers. They give their milk, not only to their own calves but also to strangers, to humans. They share happily with everyone, not just their own. Dogs are the takers. Wherever they are, they claim territorial rights. Go near them and they growl, they threaten, they fight for the bone, they fight to claim the space that doesnt belong to them. They want those cookies, others cookies. Devdutt says every organization, nay the world, needs more cows than dogs. Ask yourself: What are you? Back to the cookies The next time you feel someone else is eating your cookies, just smile. There will be times when you are like that man, and youll find someone else eating your cookies. Never mind. Be a cow. Give. Smile. There will also be times when youll be like that young lady, eating someone elses cookies, mistaking them for your own. Don growl. Dont be rude. Just smile. Clearly, its a good idea to go through life with a smile. Remember, there will always be another pack of cookies waiting for you somewhere. We go through our lives feeling that other people are taking advantage of us, of our talents, stealing our cookies. We seldom pause to think about how we depend on others, on their support, their cookies. Often, the cookies we think of as our own actually belong to someone else.