May 6, 2024

The Last Cookie

Dear Friends,

Donna and I frequently make food orders from Costco to feed ourselves and our retreaters.  Costco delivers them to the shop later in the same day after we place the orders.  One of the items we almost always request is a container of 24 large cookies.  And thereby hangs a strange and interesting phenomenon.

In the box are eight each of three different types of cookies; Chocolate chip, raisin/oatmeal, and macadamia.   People typically take and eat two at a time . . . all cookies everywhere are always eaten in twos.  Observing this action, I’ve noticed the three varieties always go down at about the same rate.  The strange part is that, once the cookies have been around for a week or so, there is always and invariably one left.  If you go look on our kitchen tables right now, one cookie from the last Costco is still in its container, uneaten.

I do not have an explanation for this, but it’s a constant for these cookie orders.  Most frequently it’s one of the macadamia cookies that is left.  Here are some of the reasons I’ve thought of for this occurrence:

1.  The last cookie always goes bad.

2.  Everyone insists on not eating the last cookie out of consideration because someone else might want it.

3.  Macadamia cookies have a natural limit after a certain number have been eaten.

4.  No one actually likes macadamia cookies and have only forced themselves to eat the first seven while not being able to stomach eating another one.

My Uncle Vernon had an interesting philosophy on how to deal with cookies.  He was something of a cookie monster, unable to resist most cookies.  As he result, he got into the habit of always buying cookies he didn’t like on the grounds they would then last longer.  This was his practice for much of his life, and seemed to work O.K. for him.  Always kept bad cookies around.

Today, Donna will be placing another Costco order, and it will definitely contain another box of cookies.  I’m seriously thinking of designating one of the new cookies to be the last one, and will dispose of it soon as the order arrives before anyone has had a chance to start eating on them.  With no last cookie available, that may solve the whole issue.

Call to action for this e-mail: Come stay with us in the retreat for a couple of nights, maybe take a class while you’re here, eat what you want of the cookies, and we can see how this “last cookie” solution pans out.