Our local Chinese restaurant always gives us fortune cookies with each take out order and when the kids were young we’d always read them aloud after our meals and they were always good for a few giggles. They were good, free entertainment that came with dessert as the vague prophesies and optimistic aphorisms could apply to just about anybody. For example, “People are naturally attracted to you” and “Never underestimate the power of the human touch” come to mind.
In recent years, the fortune cookies we get has a flip side that offers a lesson in Mandarin. Qián tiān is how you say “day before yesterday,” which seems a bit advanced for someone who doesn’t know any Chinese at all, but kě kǒu, meaning “tasty” or “delicious” might come in handy. The flip side also offers six “lucky numbers” as in possible lottery winners, so the tiny piece of paper actually offers a lot of potentially useful information.
We got four cookies in our most recent order and since the kids are grown and out of the house and the wife doesn’t see the same entertainment value as I do in the cookies, I cracked one open each day for four days. Day one: “Take the chance while you still have a choice.” Maybe I should use the numbers for the lottery? Day two: “Don’t panic.” Don’t panic? What the heck kind of fortune is that? Good general advice I guess. Day three: “You will be sharing great news with all the people you love.” How much was in the Powerball? And wouldn’t you know it, the fourth day’s prophesy kind of wrapped it all up: “You will live a long life and eat many fortune cookies.”
