But....What Does It Mean?

Sometimes, there is, honestly, nothing like old-school Chinese take-out. Cannon Falls boasts China City, a restaurant owned and operated by a family from China. The food kicks ass and every family member I've met is beyond charming and will bend over backwards to serve a customer well. Once, one of the daughters told me that fortune cookies were not invented by the Chinese. Naturally, I was taken aback.

Upon further research, I discovered that they were actually invented in the early 1900's right here in the USA. Two Chinese American's battled over the orgination of the idea; Makoto Hagiwara of Golden Gate Park's Japanese Tea Garden claimed ownership in San Francisco in 1909 and David Jung, founder of the Hong Kong Noodle Company in Los Angeles, did the same in 1918. In 1983, a San Francisco court ruled in favor of Jung but because the court was criticized for bias, the last word has not been spoken on the controversy. Speaking of words, the Chinese have real no term for "fortune cookie" but it has been attempted thusly: 幸运签饼, 签语饼, 幸运饼, 幸运签语饼, 幸运甜饼, 幸福饼干, 幸运饼干, 幸运饼, 幸运籤语饼, 籤语饼, or 占卜饼.

Now that we know the fortune cookie was created with American consumer appeal in mind, we can no longer truly marvel at the mystery of the message inside ... as if it might hold some ancient Taoist metaphor ... a deeper, more exotic meaning than we westerners can possibly fathom. Sorry to bust your cookie. Given that, what I want to know is... what wasted rapscallion from some random, west Texas bar was paid a shot of Jack Daniels with a lite beer chaser to come up with this one??? My fortune on Thursday night....