We Get To Have Cookie Chunks!
Posted on | March 1, 2010 | 1 Comment
In the spring of 2009, I had the pleasure of being a parent hiker on a week long field trip to California’s Northern Coast with my 5th grade daughter Melissa. Like all the previous field trips, I had looked forward to it for a long time and knew it would be fun. Our particular group consisted of a park guide, two parent hikers and 12 kids. Laura would be my fellow parent hiker for the week. I knew her well and was happy to be on her team.
Every morning of the trip, we would meet up after breakfast with our park guide to plan the day. As part of the routine, each child was given a portion of the lunch to carry in their pack. One child would get the apples, another person the bread and so forth. The big prize however, the thing that every hiker was vying for and coveted was carrying the cookies! If you had the cookies, you were “all that” for that particular day. Our Thursday hike had been a particularly long one and we were all eagerly anticipating that afternoon’s “cookie stop”. This cookie day was extra special, as it featured everyone’s favorite…extra large, soft chew chocolate chip cookies. When it was time, all eyes went to Hannah the keeper of the day’s cookies. As she pulled them out of her pack, a sudden collective gasp echoed throughout the group! Instead of seeing a bunch of large, mouth watering cookies, we were looking at one big pile of cookie mush. Thru the activities of the day, Hannah had unintentionally managed to crush the whole bag. It was one of those awkward moments where no one knew what to say. The only thing for sure was that Hannah was likely to be devastated. She had let her team down. This was a moment she would remember forever and for the wrong reason. A shot of public humiliation at it’s finest. But that was not to be for without missing a beat, Laura said “Great, we get to have cookie chunks. I love cookie chunks!” She then reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of cookie crumbs and smooshed it into a ball. Everyone else followed her lead, laughing and joking the whole time. We all agreed that those were the best tasting cookies ever. More important than the taste of the cookies however, was the fact that Hannah’s dignity had been saved. In an instant, she went from near devastation to feeling joyful and relieved. All because someone said that they liked cookie chunks. It was a great moment and one I won’t forget anytime soon.
In the future, when an awkward moment arrives and someone’s dignity is on the line, I hope I remember that a crushed up bag of chocolate chip cookies makes for great cookie chunks.
Thanks Laura, great lesson!!
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Mr. Kovar has been teaching Martial Arts professionally since 1978. Dave is a multi-style Black Belt who has been committed to ever-improving his Martial Arts skills. He updates this blog to provide tips and insights to martial arts instructors around the country. To learn more, click here.
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March 31st, 2010 @ 10:15 pm
That is a great recovery of a possible tough situation. She made the best of it and made it sound like that was a better way of having cookies.
Sometimes looking at things in a different perspective can really help how things go in general. nice post