With apologies to Francois Villon (who was already nostalgic on his 30th birthday–?!), “Where are the fortune cookies of yesteryear”?

When we were growing up, fortune cookies contained actual fortunes. My favorite, which I saved for years, was “You will inherit money and jewelry.” The cookie was not to know that in my mother’s declining years her caregiver helped herself to all the jewelry that was in the house: our mother, in the “wisdom” of her 90s, having long since removed everything from her safe deposit box. 

Admittedly, it wasn’t my taste and for various reasons I doubt I’d have seen so much as a lone earring, but still….

I digress. Today’s cookies are not only generally flavorless, the messages are either personal assessments (“You are the life of the party!”) or advice (“Do not hide your feelings. Let others know where you stand.”). To add insult to injury, when my husband and I ordered in Chinese food a couple of weeks ago, we both got the SAME fortune! Is that lazy or what?!? Who writes these things?!

Has this happened to you? Is it a national/regional/local phenomenon? Inquiring minds need to know.