Cookie Monster

My Dad bought cheap cookies every week. He usually chose large packs of dry, creme-filled wafers that tasted sweet but dull. He ate them at work when he took a coffee break midmorning. Caffeine and sugar gave him a boost that carried him through to lunch.

He started out as an operator of a screw-making machine, became a machinist, and trained to become a toolmaker. He worked in factories manufacturing cash registers, machine parts, auto repair parts, and RV windows. Most of his supervisors got used to him taking midmorning breaks as they witnessed how hard he worked. His production more than made up for time lost during brief pauses.

He ran into trouble one day, however, when the owner of an auto parts factory came through on an inspection tour. The owner saw Dad taking his customary break and reprimanded him. The owner also told Dad’s foreman to report any more violations. Dad would be fired if he stopped working at unscheduled times. Dad complied and saved his treat for lunch time. But his co-workers never let him forget the incident. They nicknamed him, “Cookie Monster”.

The owner came down on the floor a few months later. He wanted to congratulate the hardest worker in the factory, the man with the highest production rate. The owner didn’t remember Dad when the foreman ushered him over to Dad’s workstation. The owner shook his hand and asked Dad’s name. Before Dad could answer, the foreman interjected, “You’ve already met him! This is the Cookie Monster!” The owner recalled the incident, flushed with embarrassment, and retreated.

Dad worked part time after he turned 62. His legs swelled if he worked a full day standing on concrete. He fully retired at 65.

After Dad turned eighty, he began to suffer more and more from crippling arthritis. Last spring, his body began to shut down, and he became bedridden. My mother took care of his needs as best she could. She told me that he often called out to her just as he was about to fall asleep. He wanted her to bring him a cookie. Eating a cookie would help get him through the night.