I own a mason jar that holds around one hundred-fifty fortune cookie sayings. Each time I receive a new fortune, it is put into the pile of other fortunes I have gathered for the past seven years. I am still not sure what I will be doing with them.
I read the sayings out loud and if I were in an English class my teacher would tell me, “you have just written a ten-dollar cliché. This overused phrase has no sense of direction nor any originality.” Why do these pieces of paper exist?
I have seen lovers pass by in the park; they’d stop for a moment, look at the beautiful surrounding, the nature, the fountain, the little bird trying to learn how to fly next to their mother. I see the lovers exchange whispers to one another as they solidify their love in this moment in time with a kiss and they walk to the land where I’ll never see them again,
I try to imagine what the two lovers must have said to one another,
“You don’t understand how much I really love you,” or,
“Meeting you was my fondest dream come true,” or,
“I will be with you till the end of time.”
These sweet nothings are like clichés. They lack originality and they seem to be used in every romantic comedy in every era. But to the lovers, at that moment in time, meant so much to them.
Maybe that is why fortune cookie sayings are made.
Maybe they are made for those who need reassurance, who need affirmation, who need love.
Maybe they are for those who are hurting and no longer want to be lonely.
Maybe they are meant for you and me,
After all, after eating at a Chinese buffet, anyone can feel a little overwhelmed at times.
RMG Millo
