Fortune cookies

[altivo]

We went down to Elgin yesterday afternoon to have dinner with friends. This involved putting the horses in their stalls a bit early rather than leaving them out until 10 or 11 pm. Since we've been pushing their dinner and bedtime forward a bit as it stays lighter, the boys were a little surprised. Yes, they can tell time.

"What's going on? Why are you doing this now?" Were the obvious questions. I opened Asher's Dutch doors and he stood there looking at me, so I made encouraging sounds. Very, very carefully he peeked inside. Then it dawned on me that the vet was here last week and they must have been let in midafternoon so she could check them over and give them a couple of vaccinations. Oops. It took a few minutes before Asher decided the coast was clear, even though his hay and grain were obviously waiting for him. Archie did the same thing when I opened his stall for him.

Tess rarely hesitates when there is food involved, though, and this was no exception.

Got to Elgin, waited for Gary and Rebecca to go look at some former chicken coop in South Elgin that she thought she wanted for a tool shed. After they returned, reporting that it was much too far gone to be moved, we went to Bangkok House for Thai food. That's always good.

Four of the friends we met with had been working on a prairie restoration project all day. In this case, the task included removing some large trees, and I guess one of them had a very close call, nearly having a large tree fall on him. Everyone made light of it, but it didn't sound funny to me at all. He actually got a glancing blow to the head, so it was within an inch or two of very serious or even fatal.

At the end of the meal, there were fortune cookies. In light of that anecdote, I am not at all sure what to think of mine:

"You need not worry about your future."

Because it's secure or because I have none? Yow!

Comments

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

When life hands you an ambivalent fortune, I think it's best to be cautious even as you hope for the better end of it. But then... To do so is to worry about you future which is what the cookie says not to do... so that would be breaking the fortune itself...

So I guess in this case... Don't worry about it ^^

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't usually take fortune cookies seriously anyway. I suspect that the double meaning in this one wasn't really intended, it's too subtle.

I was told that the last time the same group (without us) was at Bangkok House, every single person got the same fortune.

[calydor.livejournal.com]

So if they all added the classic '... in bed.' to them, then ... heh.

[calydor.livejournal.com]

No, because the future can not be changed, so why worry about it? You weren't paying attention in the 60's, were you? ;-)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I was paying a lot of attention in the 60s. I certainly wouldn't be who or where I am now had I not been paying attention then. Generally I'm accused of paying too much attention ("worrying" as goldenstallion puts it) rather than not enough.

I disagree with you though. The future CAN be changed. It's the past that is inalterable.

[calydor.livejournal.com]

Can it really? The idea of a multiverse says that every decision, yes or no, spawns a range of seperate realities dependant on that choice. But what if, in each of those realities, no other choice could possibly have been made? Then, for each of them, the future could not have been changed.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

No, for each of them, the past cannot be changed. Here...

time--------------->>
       __B
    _ /         __D
   /  \__C_____/
  /            \____E
A-
  \    __F
   \__/         __G
      \________/
               \____H

As time proceeds from left to right here, each branch represents a decision point. So by the time you arrive at possible future E, for instance, looking back there is only a single path. Nothing can be changed, because if you go back, say to C, and make a different choice, you arrive at D rather than E. This makes the future seem unchangeable, but it is, the trouble is, if you change it, the result is always different and you are no longer the same person in the same setting as you were before you went back and made the change. While traveling backward, though, you never have a choice. You can only follow the route you already came over. The only choices are those that lead forward.

[kildoo-lonewolf.livejournal.com]

I would say because it is not yours yet. So why worry about it when you have today to enjoy ;)

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

Its secure.

[songcoyote.livejournal.com]

You need not worry about your future...

...with a chainsaw.

...after the apocalypse.

...if you open your eyes.

Those are three I like to use (besides ...in bed, of course).

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*looks confused*

What is with the "...in bed" thing anyway? People keep tossing that at me and, frankly, it makes no sense to me.

--Signed,
Too dense or too innocent in Illinois

[songcoyote.livejournal.com]

Ah! Allow me to elucidate:

A classic game among people I know (and then some) is to read aloud your fortunes when you get fortune cookies, but append something to the end of the Words O' Wisdom^TM, such as the phrases I suggested.

"Others will soon realize your true excellence." ...in bed.

"You will make a good name for yourself." ...with a chainsaw.

"You will find friendship and love." ...after the apocalypse.

Etc. etc. ad nauseum :) Sometimes we agree before we open our cookies that we will all use a specific suffix. It's kinda fun.

Yes, yes, we're easily amused :P

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the explanation, that clears up a lot of confusion. Nope, I had never heard of this particular practice.

[songcoyote.livejournal.com]

Fascinating. It's been quite a while since I met someone who had not heard of that. Little differences from cultural microclimates :)

"Life is full of surprises" ...with a chainsaw in bed after the apocalypse.

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote