In most restaurants across America it is customary to have a treat near the entry and exit. It may be mints, toothpicks, chocolates, or in most Chinese restaurants in the U.S. there are fortune cookies. One for each patron upon the arrival of the check once dinner is completed.
In truth the fortune cookie did not even derive from China but from Japan, which spread to Hawaii and the western shoreline of the continent in California. Japanese immigrants brought this tradition to our country in the early 1900's.
I have no Asian DNA down to the last drop. I have no desire to travel to China or Japan for a visit. Asian food is something I can take or leave. And Asian music and art have a certain charm, but not one that could replace my love of European folk art, music, cuisine and traditions. However, the Americanized version of Chinese food can hit the spot on occasion, but what always scratches the itch of my curiosity is a good old fashioned fortune cookie.
It is a romanticized tradition that has surprised future brides as the cookie pops the question, reveals gender at a family gathering with blue strips or pink, or works as a great conversation piece for two people on a first date.
I wrote about the fortune cookie and its appeal to me more two decades ago in this column. I can't recall the entire thing, but I did reference that a fortune cookie cannot really magically know what the future holds for a person who just happened upon that one rolled up brittle Pac-man shaped cracker. But like any other way with the power of suggestion, it can certainly steer our thinking in one direction or the other.
For instance, if a fortune says you have a warm and friendly spirit, who would not take that one? If it says you are going to have a great week, certainly you can find some good thing that happened in those seven days to fulfill the premonition. We simply choose to believe in fate unrolled from a cookie after a delightful meal unless you happen to be that person who never gets the good ones.
That person is my husband, which prompted me to write that column about the fortune cookies all those years ago. You see, I am mostly Irish and Irish culture emphasizes storytelling and proverbs rather than fortune-telling. However, for some reason during 38 years of marriage I have always gotten the most gracious, complimentary, and enjoyable fortunes while my husband's always say something a bit passive-aggressive or drab. I have even let him choose first. I have let him choose first and then switched so he might get the good one. It never works out. Mine will say something like, "You light up the room." And his will say, "Your dark days may find glimmer soon."
So, in these past weeks of healing from open heart surgery Clay's brother brought us some of his favorite Chinese foods. It has been a grueling five weeks with long days of recovery stuck at home staring at the walls and each other waiting for healing and energy to return. And sure enough after Clay picked his fortune cookie it read, "Try to find the fun in everyday routines." And mine said, "With patience, you can overcome any challenge." My challenge sitting in his recliner claiming I had the fortune cookie business rigged.
I don't get it. I am a storyteller who loves to end things with a good proverb. Never cared much to know the future because the present has always been "a lot."
Regardless I have always stumbled upon the little strip of paper written by a stranger who seems to be looking over my shoulder. But I still hold onto my favorite fortune to this day, which is fit for us all:
"Do it now! Today will be yesterday tomorrow."
