Of Fortune Cookies and Cracker Jacks

I’ve decided that Chinese restaurants are for the kid at heart.  Where else can you go and get a surprise with every meal?  Fortune cookies are like Cracker Jacks.  You never take the toy seriously, but it sure is fun to find.  This week at the conclusion of a buffet of egg foo young, fried rice and fifteen different flavors of prepared chicken, an unusual event took place.  As my business colleagues all chuckled over their “fortunes” – they were funny – I excitedly broke open my cookie, only to find it vacant. There was no “A promotion is in your future” (good news for the self-employed) or “Sell rather than be poor.”  I got nothing, nada, zilch.  I wanted to return my entire buffet, like a defective box of Cracker Jacks.