If just ~

A woman was waiting at an airport one night,

For instance, several long hours before her flight

She hunted for a book in the airport shop,

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

She was engrossed in her book but happened to see

That the man beside her, as bold as could be

She grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between

Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene.

She munched cookies and watched the clock.

As this gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock,

She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,

Thinking, “If I weren’t so nice, I’d blacken his eye.”

With each cookie she took, he took one too,

And when only one was left, she wondered what he’d do.

With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh,

He took the last cookie and broke it in half

He offered her half as he ate the other. She snatched it from him and thought, “Oh brother,

This guy has some nerve, and he’s also rude.

Why he didn’t even show any gratitude.”

She had never known when she had been so galled

And sighed with relief when her flight was called.

She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate

Refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate

Then sought her book, which was almost complete.

As she reached her baggage, she gasped in amazement

She boarded the plane and sank into her seat.

“Too late to apologise, she realised with grief”

That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief.

There was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes. "If mine are here", she moaned with despair. "Then the others were his, and he tried to share."