05-09-2005 21:02									#1
	Fortune cookie weirdness Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

So the Libertarian Librarian and I went out last night to a Thai-Chinese restaurant, and something happened which I had never seen before, despite many years of frequent visits to all manner of Asian eateries.

We both got the exact same fortune:

"You will be fortunate in everything you put your hands to."




Luckily, that fortune turned out to be very, very true, on several occasions; but still it was highly strange.

Has this ever happened to any of you folks?

	05-09-2005 21:05									#2
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maybe that resturant bought cheap fortune cookies that only has one fortune... did you ask other customers what their fortunes were?

MAYBE ITS A TRICK!

	05-09-2005 21:20									#3
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I think I am more likely to go with Sava's explanation

"You will be fortunate in everything you put your hands to." is really a bit of a cover-all isn't it?

	05-09-2005 22:33									#4
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Homer: [reading his fortune] "You will find happiness with a new love." Aw, even the Chinese are against me. What's the point? I can't fight fate

Man 1: Hey, we're out of these "New Love" cookies.

Man 2: Well, open up the "Stick With Your Wife" barrel.

	06-09-2005 00:49									#5
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Guy, didn't you just get split up (not personally)? I wish I had your luck.

	06-09-2005 01:25									#6
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I recently pulled a fortune that said something about good fortune and new ventures, then there was one left over cookie, which no one else wanted, and it had the same fortune. Weird. chalk it up to a uber cheap buffet.

	06-09-2005 01:32									#7
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So what did you put your hands to?

	06-09-2005 06:10									#8
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I'll never tell.

	06-09-2005 08:36									#9
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Seven of us went to a Chinese restaurant several months ago. There were two pair of fortunes at that table.

	06-09-2005 08:45									#10
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I once got, as my fortune, an ad for the fortune cookie company.

	06-09-2005 09:18									#11
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I keep waiting for one that says:

LOOK OUT!! RUN FOR IT!!!

	06-09-2005 09:25									#12
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She and I had talked previously of starting a line of Misfortune Cookies with similar sentiments.

"The calls are coming from inside the house!"
"Unfortunately for you, the clinic will be out of penicillin tomorrow."
"We were totally naked when we made this cookie."

...and so forth.

	06-09-2005 09:32									#13
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quote: You will be so utterly and completely screwed! Give up.

By George, I've think you've got something there, Guynemer.

quote: The good news is; Your lab tests are back and they show you have 24 hours to live. The bad news is: I forgot to tell you yesterday.

	06-09-2005 10:17									#14
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I'm waiting for one that says 'this will be your last cooking in this life'

Now, do you order another cookie and possibly hasten your demise, or do you...not? Perhaps never ordering another cookie anywhere knowing that you will die before it arives...

	06-09-2005 11:21									#15
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quote: Originally posted by Guynemer Has this ever happened to any of you folks?

I once got a fortune that said "Your boss has you in mind for a promotion or raise."

I'll be d@mned if the boss didn't call me into his office the very next day. He started out with "I'm going to give you a choice ..."

I was so excited!

"... You can either quit, or we'll fire you."

I never read a fortune again.

quote: She and I had talked previously of starting a line of Misfortune Cookies with similar sentiments.

Sorry to disappoint you, but Misfortune Cookies have been available (at least in San Francisco) for many years, along with "adult message" fortune cookies.


I love to show pictures of fortune cookies to students here in China, and tell them that westerners think that they are a traditional Chinese snack. In fact, few Chinese have ever seen or heard of them, fortune cookies were invented in California.

	06-09-2005 11:47									#16
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We don't have General Tso's Chicken either. I heard it was invented in New York.

	06-09-2005 13:59									#17
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I don't like fortune cookies and never touch the things. I usually find the fortunes a lot less interesting than whatever else is going on.

	07-09-2005 16:52									#18
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quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger We don't have General Tso's Chicken either. I heard it was invented in New York.

I had often heard the same of "Sweet and Sour Pork" , i.e. that it was created in the US for American palates, and was not known in China. However that's not true, I've had it here. It's called gulao rou if I recall.

Also, I have found the equivalent of General Tso's chicken, although it's made with pork. It's called guobao ruo, it's part of DongBei ("Northeastern") cuisine. YUM!!

	07-09-2005 20:30									#19
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Gulao rou

	07-09-2005 20:38									#20
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quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger We don't have General Tso's Chicken either. I heard it was invented in New York.

GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN ZOMFG PWNAGE^99999

sweet and sour PWNAGE

flied lice

potstickers

Hey!

I got a question.

What is wrong with the word, "Oriental"?

Like 10 years ago, Asian people were called Oriental... but now, Oriental is like considered racist.

What happened?

	07-09-2005 20:45									#21
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my girlfriend insists that for every fortune cookie fortune, "in bed" should be appended at the end.

She's silly like that.

But it makes fortunes more arousing certainly.

	08-09-2005 01:03									#22
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bump

need answer to my oriental question!

	08-09-2005 14:22									#23
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quote: Originally posted by Sava bump need answer to my oriental question!

I'm not sure why oriental is considered racist or insensitive, but I can tell you that people who used that term made me uncomfortable even as far back as the 1960s. They tended to be pretty damned ignorant. Perhaps the reason that it has become an objectionable term is that it is so often used as a racial term (ie Chinese, Japanese, Koreans etc. are orientals) when anyone with any sort of familiarity with east asia realizes that these peoples are very different both physically and culturally.

	08-09-2005 14:41									#24
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quote: Originally posted by Sava What is wrong with the word, "Oriental"? Like 10 years ago, Asian people were called Oriental... but now, Oriental is like considered racist. What happened?

I reckon "Orient" refers to just East Asia. That would annoy persons from Southeast and South Asia.

Of course, we don't have a problem with that term

	08-09-2005 14:48									#25
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quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger We don't have General Tso's Chicken either. I heard it was invented in New York.

Actually, it's just a variant of gongbao jiding, a Sichuan dish that no two restaurants in Hangzhou make exactly the same.

	08-09-2005 14:49									#26
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Dà shi = grandmaster

	08-09-2005 14:50									#27
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That sounds about right.

	08-09-2005 14:51									#28
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General Tso is chicken, like Sir Robin.

	08-09-2005 14:56									#29
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When in China I did a wushu crash course under the instruction of a guy we were supposed to address as shifu

	08-09-2005 16:10									#30
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quote: Originally posted by Sava What is wrong with the word, "Oriental"? Like 10 years ago, Asian people were called Oriental... but now, Oriental is like considered racist. What happened?

It's mainly an American thing, particularly on the West Coast.

Much of it comes from Edward Said's book "Orientalism" which looked at how the West viewed Asia and that the term "Oriental" is an imperialistic way of dividing people. (This is a simplistic summary of Said's book)

Also, Sik is correct about the way it lumps people from different cultures together.

In the U.S., many Asian-Americans objected to the term because it implies that an "Oriental" is not an American.

I've met some Asian-Americans who equate it with nigger or chink.

In Asia, there seems to be less objection to the term, but then again, I can't remember the last time I heard someone using it. "Asian" has replaced it.