I remember reading a story about the history of fortune cookie fortunes, and how the pool of fortunes has been getting smaller because people keep complaining about them. In the article, they gave as an example that the fortune “You will meet a stranger” was removed from the fortune library because somebody complained that it was too scary.

The effects of this trend toward meaningless fortunes continue to be felt. A few years ago, I opened a fortune cookie and looked at the slip of paper inside. It read simply