A few weeks ago, Wendy and I were in Arizona doing some sight-seeing with my family. One day, after lunch, we stopped at Insomnia Cookies for dessert. I ordered a triple-chocolate-chunk deluxe cookie. The employee went into the back room, came back, and said they were out of those. I thought he said I could have two regular chocolate chunk cookies instead, for the same price. So I said sure. He handed me the bag of cookies, but when I opened it a moment later, there were actually three cookies inside!!! I was totally excited and ate all three. I regret nothing. They were delicious.
This reminded me of another momentous occasion, one that occurred in high school, and which I enshrined in a college application essay. I looked through the files on my computer and found a copy of it. The application had asked me to describe a dramatic moment in my life. This is what I wrote:
“Yeah, I’d like two quarter pounders and a medium Coke.”
“Okay, that’ll be three twenty-three, please.”
I paid the money, got my food, and sat down in the same seat of the same booth I always sit in when I go to that pinnacle of fast food franchises: McDonald’s.
I was in my senior year of high school, and it was a wonderful time because McDonald’s was having a special offer: two quarter pounders for two dollars. By far the best fast food burger in town, the quarter pounder was now being offered at nearly half off it’s original price. O Glorious Day!
However, the day was not going to be so glorious. It was 3:30pm, and I had just gotten out of school, I had to be at work in half an hour at a local grocery store where I was employed as a stocker, I had to work until 10 that night, I had a Physics test the next day over momentum, a Calculus assignment on derivatives, the deadline for our high school news broadcast was in two days, and I, being the editor, had quite a bit of editing to get done by then, and, finally, to top it all off, it was Halloween.
My mind was racing as I finished my first burger, racing around and around, wondering how I was going to get everything done in time. I stopped. Looking, with great anticipation, at the box that held my second burger, I opened it. But wait! A mistake had been made: instead of another quarter pounder with cheese, I had been given a double quarter pounder with cheese! O Joyous Rapture! I ate the whole thing and enjoyed every bite of it.
You may be wondering how this event is a dramatic influence in my life. Well, it isn’t. Not now, anyway. But at the exact moment I discovered the mistake, it changed the way I looked at everything I had to do that night. I got through work with a smile, finished my Calculus assignment, got an A on my Physics test the next day, and had our news broadcast edited and turned in on time. That little surprise provided me with the enthusiasm I needed, and it’s little surprises like those that make life all the more fun.
I don't remember which college the application was for, or if they even accepted me after reading my essay!
Anyway, returning to cookies: Last night Wendy made two huge chocolate chip cookies, following a recipe called Two Huge Chocolate Chip Cookies. They were delicious! Highly recommended.
If you have a favorite cookie recipe, please feel free to share in the comments!