A young lady was waiting for her flight in the boarding room of a big airport. As she would need to wait many hours, she decided to buy a book to spend her time. She also bought a packet of cookies. She sat down in an armchair in the VIP room of the airport to rest and read in peace.
Beside the armchair where the packet of cookies lay, a man sat down in the next seat, opened his magazine and started reading. When she took out the first cookie, the man took one also. She felt irritated but said nothing. She just thought, “What a nerve! If I was in the mood I would punch him for daring!”.
For each cookie she took, the man took one too. This was infuriating her but she didn’t want to cause a scene. When only cookie remained, she thought, “Ah…what this abusive man do now?”. Then the man taking the last cookie, divided it into half, giving her one half. Oh, that was too much! She was too angry now.
In a huff, she took her book, her things and stormed to the boarding place. When she sat down in the seat, inside the plane, she looked into her purse to take her eyeglasses, and, to her suprise, her packet of cookies was there, untouched, unopened!
She felt so ashamed! She realized that she was wrong. She has forgotten that her cookies were kept in her purse. The man had divided her cookies with her, without feeling angered or bitter. While she had been very angry, thinking that she was dividing her cookies with him. And now there was no chance to explain herself…nor to apologize.
There are 4 things that you cannot recover:
The stone…after the throw!
The word…after it’s said
The occasion…after the loss
The time…after it’s gone.
