Do you THINK you know? or do you KNOW?

It's amazing how much different a situation becomes, when we KNOW something, as opposed to just THINKING something.   For instance, I have never been to Niagara Falls, but I have seen pictures and videos, and think it is a wonderous site to behold, but I have not seen it with my own eyes... so I can't KNOW anything about it... Here is a wonderful little story that illustrates how much different it is to KNOW, rather than THINK we know... written by Valerie Cox, though she is rarely credited for it.

A woman was waiting at an airport one night

With several long hours before her flight

She hunted for a book in the airport shop

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

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 wasn'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

She boarded the plane and sank in her seat

Then sought her book which was almost complete

As she reached in her baggage she gasped with surprise

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"

"Too late to apologize" she realized with grief

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