Fortune, No Fortune

Some of my Faithful Readers have been complaining that Law Prof on the Loose (a Law Professor Looks at the News, the World, and Life) has been spending too much time looking at the News and not enough looking at the World and Life. Ah, it's so difficult meeting the needs of one's rich and varied readership. But there has, perhaps, been a little overweighting of legal topics lately. So let me get right to a really important topic: fortune cookies.

Have you noticed that fortune cookies don't contain fortunes anymore? It used to be that fortune cookies would say things like, "You will encounter an old friend," or "A job offer is coming your way" or something like that. These days, more often than not, fortune cookies don't contain fortunes at all. I had Chinese food last night, and my "fortune" was "It's not what you know, but how you use what you know that counts."

What kind of a fortune is that? That's not a fortune, it's just an observation. When I open a fortune cookie, I want a fortune! It not a fortune unless it predicts something about the future. Commentaries on the present don't count.

What's become of the fortune cookie industry? I presume they do market research like anyone else. They must have concluded that their customers prefer sayings to fortunes. Who are you people out there who prefer sayings? When you open a fortune cookie, don't you want a fortune?