Looking back: memories from inside a fortune cookie

To the editor:
    Years ago eating Chinese in Houlton meant heating chop suey or chow mein from a can to serve over rice — with no fortune cookie. There was an Oriental restaurant in Bangor, but not in Houlton. Now, decades later, Chinese restaurants are everywhere in Maine; whether we eat in or order take-out, we expect to receive the cookies as little gifts.
    Do you believe in the sayings in fortune cookies? Do you read them? Many people seem to seek advice, wisdom, a prophecy or a bit of humor from the little bits of paper. People even trade their fortunes, saying, “Yours fits me better.”
    The funniest one ever for me was, “The waiter is having a bad day.” Actually, he had seemed very serious, so I showed him the fortune, and he laughed out loud.
    The most confusing one popped out of my cookie last week: “When the moment comes, take the first one from the right.” There must be a Chinese counterpart of Yogi Berra, who said, “If you come to a fork in the road, take it.” A woman across the way, who had just read her fortune, said to the man at the next table, “Sometimes these seem meant to confuse. This says, ‘Just wait for the right moment. Keep your eyes and ears peeled.’”
    On the back of my fortune was “still single not married” in Chinese, mae yao jeh huan. This reminded me of the time a young Chinese-Filipino businessman I met on a train heading for the Mindanao volcano, asked me to find him an American wife, “between 20 and 30, and, you know, a virgin.” A month later, back in Rochester, I called friends for help, and finally sent him the name and address of a 25-year-old, “you-know,” from a small town 60 miles south. When she reported no word received in over a month, I wrote him and he replied, “Thank you very much, but I found someone here. Sorry, but it is really better this way.”
    For years I saved every fortune placed before me; to justify this small compulsion, I decided I might use them in a collage or decoupage someday. When a covered jar on my dresser was overflowing, I transferred the fortunes to a box. The second time, I added the contents to the box — and stopped collecting them. It was not easy.
    I still bring them home, reread each one, and then toss it in with paper to recycle. I was picturing a recycling plant worker reading them, but since I heard that most paper collected now goes “offshore,” I envision someone in China reading my fortune! The worker reads, “When the moment comes, take the next right,” and says, “Ah, yes, of course,” understanding immediately.
Byrna Porter Weir
Rochester, N.Y.