….or is it?
Who remembers where that little rhyme comes from? Props to whoever gets the reference.
Anyway, this past Thursday I was eating at my favorite Chinese restaurant here in Abilene called SzeChuan (which also happens to be one of the top 100 in the US and was ranked #1 a few years ago!) and something odd happened to me.
As with most places of this sort you get a complimentary fortune cookie with your tab. I never put much stock into fortune cookies but they’re a source of entertainment for sure. So I cracked it open and lo and behold there was absolutely nothing in it! I mean nothing! Not so much as a blank slip of paper. Just an empty void.
I sat wondering “what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Again, I don’t put much stock into fortune cookies but I couldn’t help but be a little confused.
Well, I think Saturday gave me the answer to that. As I played a bagpipe medley of “Flowers of the Forest,” “Wings” and “Scotland the Brave” at my dear friend Shawn’s memorial service I couldn’t help but feel that emptiness – one that reminded me of my poor empty cookie two nights prior.
To add to that void, when I dropped into Vagabond (the pizza joint I always rave about) and the head bartender (who is also a very close friend) told me that the co-owner’s dad had died that week I almost lost it. The entire crew at Vagabond is like a 2nd family to me. Though I’d never met or even talked to this person, it was like rubbing salt into a wound. Luckily I was given the opportunity to pen a hand-written note sending my condolences and reminding her how much she and the entire family there mean to me.
So I guess for once a fortune cookie was right. The empty cookie was a fortune (or is that a misfortune?) tale of the feelings to come. Alas, we shall push on right? That’s all you can do I guess.
Have you ever had a prophetic fortune cookie, or do you more agree with the old adage? Let me know what you think!