I had Chinese food for supper tonight and with it came the inevitable Fortune Cookie. My fortune said "Your perseverance will be a key to achieving your goals." Well that sounds very nice and positive, as they always do. I mean, fortune cookies are nice, mildly flavored cookies that go well after a large dinner, especially with hot tea, but I don't think people would be so eager to eat them if the fortunes were less positive. For instance, if the fortune above was rewritten like this "If you give up now you'll never amount to anything." I don't think it would be as well received by the cookie eater.
But pondering fortune cookies got me wondering who came up with the idea of little folded cookies containing bits of wisdom. Naturally I turned to Google and here's what I found out. Wikipedia says they most likely originated as cookies made by Japanese immigrants to the United States in the late 19th or early 20th centuries. The Japanese version did not have the lucky numbers or fortunes and were eaten with tea.
There is a hot dispute between bakers in Los Angeles and San Francisco, each city claiming to be the site of the origin of these tasty little cookies. Whatever the truth, which we may never know, I wish you good fortune in life and on paper.
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