I like Chinese food. Of course I also like Italian food, Mexican, Polynesian, French, Swiss, Argentine, Thai curry, foo foo from Ghana, and if Antarctica has a dish, I'm sure there would be something appealing about it too. OK, so I like food in general. But I also enjoy the ubiquitous fortune cookies accompanying said Chinese food. These insightful, tasty little treats are basic in their design, but carry a simple, satisfying flavor. And they come with a prize...of sorts. 

Although this perfect marriage of simple snack and printed prophesying paper is quite appealing, I've yet to be recipient of their promised cache of worldly riches, experienced any predestined romantic adventure, or received that big raise at work after eating the cookies and reading the promise. Boiled down these fortunes merely introduce some form of vague personal instruction or guided suggestion. And at best, any good sound advice offered by the fortune is often just that - good, sound advice. In many cases, the reality of the fortune is dependent upon the consumer taking action. 

Despite these verities, I've decided to write a blog entry each time I enjoy one of these treats, using the fortune as the post's theme.

I'm going to save giving the history of the fortune cookie for later. But as many already know, fortune cookies are not a Chinese creation, nor do they eat them with their Chinese food (also known as just food to the Chinese).

As this is the first in a series I have a few important questions:

1. Must the fortune cookie be consumed to fully realize any and all promises? 
2. Does eating a second, third, or fourth cookie, or in rare cases, one eats the entire table's haul of cookies during one meal negate any fortune associated with the first and only cookie assigned to a consumer? 
3. What if one eats a rogue fortune cookie from an earlier meal of Chinese food? In other words, must the fortune be opened at the time of the meal's original eating? 
4. Is a fortune voided if one eats the cookie and reads the fortune but the partaker was not present during the meal in which the cookie belonged? Again said another way, Purchase or no purchase necessary? 
5. Is there a statute of limitations on the fortune's efficacy? 
6. Are the family members of fortune cookie factory workers prohibited from participating?
7. What if the cookie is broken upon receipt?
8. Are fortunes transferable? 
9. Is there a cash value to a fortune; aside from any potential monetary fortune promise?
10. Is a fortune void if two or more in a party enjoying Chinese food receive the same fortune? Or are they cosmically tied to one another pending the fortune's outcome?
11. If the fortune speaks of love, fortune, or fame, are two unrelated parties bound by the promise? So is there a matching recipient somewhere in the world and somehow the two must somehow meet in order for the fortune to come true?
12. Despite the cookie's American or Japanese origin, does the greater the authenticity of the Chinese food increase the likelihood of the fortune occurring? Said differently, does a fortune from a grocery store take-out Chinese restaurant in Cheyenne, Wyoming have as much sway as a nice, formal, sit down Chinese restaurant in New York?
13. Does the value or worth of the fortune increase if we leave the cookie and fortune in their original packing, never knowing what the fortune says, like a limited edition collectible? 
14. And couldn't they make, oh I don't know, maybe an Oreo-flavored fortune cookie? Or a Fig Newton enhanced cookie? They might even want to take inspiration from the Girl Scout's Thin Mints. I'm just saying. I suppose that was more a suggestion as it was a question, but there is so much untapped opportunity in the fortune cookie arena. 
15. And yes, if you fail to tack on the ever popular, ". . . in bed" at the end of a fortune cookie reading, do you receive the combined sum total of bad luck occurring due to breaking a mirror, spilling salt, walking under a ladder, witnessing a black cat cross your path, and saying Beetlejuice three times?

Is it me or is that a lot of fortune cookie questions? Well my inquiring mind wants to know the answers to these important inquiries. Ultimately of course, the reality of the fortune coming to fruition is entirely dependent upon our willingness to act, to try, to have a positive attitude, and sure a little luck never hurts.

PS-And because these are Chinese Fortune Cookies, here is the same fortune translated in Chinese: "你必须学会​​扩大你的视野"
PSS-The total calorie content in one fortune cookie is 30.