Fortune cookies are random magic. [note to readers: former history teacher is going to give some background information now– skip the next paragraph if you are not interested.]
What is interesting about the fortune cookie (as we know it) is that it is 100% American based on a JAPANESE tradition and cookie, yet it is almost always served in Chinese restaurants. The first fortune cookie was made by a Japanese bakery in San Francisco for the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. The “fortune” inside the cookie comes from the Shinto (Japanese religion) tradition of Omikuji which are random fortunes or a “divine lottery”. You can see little papers in Japan tied to tree branches and fluttering in the wind (the noise of the fluttering takes the message to heaven/gods). And, of course, I love this too. Another kind of random magic. Yeah!
Here is an online fortune cookie message generator.
The fortune I received when I clicked on it: “Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.”
Well, that really doesn’t need a meaning or interpretation — does it? 😉
It is a good message, me thinks.
Enjoy the evening. And the next time you go to a party with lots of fortune cookies see if you can collect the fortunes and string them together to make a poem. I did this with friends about 10 years ago (yes, we were all poets/writers) and we created a fortune cookie pantoum. It was pretty neato. Yes, I used the word neato.
Dear reader: What have been your most memorable fortunes?
P.S. Here is an online Omikuji generator. Check it out!
Bridget Kelley-Lossada 