For the cookie itself, that has to be a strange existence if one were to consider it. Truly think about it. The sole purpose, raison d'être, is to be dismembered and devoured, leaving nothing but a tiny slip of paper with a message for the world (or the few people sitting at the table). Actually that one slip of paper has the only message ever exhibited from that fortune cookie. Is it any wonder we expect profound things on that tiny slip of paper.
In recent times, I have found disappointment. Fortune cookies once gave tiny horoscopes or predictions. Now they regularly dispense good advice. Certainly, I am not the only person that cares. Although, I am sure, there probably is not anyone that cares as much, but surely others do care. I keep mine. I have about ten fortunes in my wallet, from the last two or three years. I do not date them although that might not be a bad idea and I rarely even go back and look at them. There really is no reason to keep them, I do not keep records to know how many I have received and I feel I probably should have more. One time I got three fortunes from one cookie. Actually, now that I think about it I lost this one. I did not put it in my wallet since I was planning on referencing it. Not that it matters. I remember the "fortune". Everything else is just extra.
I find that silly. I mean who can remember when they started showing up with lottery numbers on them, but at first it was kind of neat. Not that anyone really believed those were lucky numbers. I mean sure if you do not have any numbers to play and you want to play I am sure those numbers are as good as any. Really though if the numbers were any good everyone that had a fortune cookie on a particular day would have the same numbers which then, since they are lucky everyone would win which would mean the pot would be split up and shared equally. Which would be unlucky, I mean you get match six numbers and because of the hundreds of thousands of people that did the same, you get like two dollars. I guess that is not bad for a one dollar ticket, but when you consider you had to pay for dinner to get your numbers then suddenly you are in the hole.
If anything the lotto numbers reduce the fortune cookie credibility. I mean anyone can believe a fortune or at least agree that cookie has good advice, but there is obvious repercussions to trying to predict something that will happen and therefore provides a baseline to later assess the prediction. This is probably why they started teaching people Chinese. It is amazing that a fortune cookie can teach people to speak bad Chinese.
It is helpful. If I ever need to say Gooseberry in Chinese, I will be ready. You know it is useful since I can remember every time I have ever said Gooseberry in English; only once after reading it off a fortune cookie. Although, it is a little concerning to me that the "English" version of the Chinese characters was using accents. I mean we use those so often in English, I know what they are called. Oh wait, I don't really know. There was an i with an accent aigou (spelling? and if that's the same in English as in French, I don't know) alt + 141 mì also there was an a with a circumflex alt + 131 tâo. Now that brings up another question. Forget the fact that I don't know the international phonetic alphabet much at all, much less well enough to know how to pronounce these if fortune cookies even use itt. However, I have seen "tao" before so naturally I want to pronounce it the same despite the difference. Is that even right? I realize there's no way for anyone to answer that because this is all text. Nevertheless, one can see my confusion?
Finally, I could spend all day talking about what my fortune means and how in its simplicity it says even more. How it connects with feelings and thoughts that preceded it and provide context. I could say all that and more, but I would not be satisfied. So without further adieu, I leave my fortune with you (do with it what you will):
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