Has anyone else noticed that Chinese fortune cookies have become a huge disappointment over the past few years?

They never have actual fortunes in them any more.

I got this one last night:

Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire.

That’s not a fortune. That’s an aphorism.

What’s going on? Have the Chinese fortune cookie companies been advised by their attorneys to get out of the fortune-telling business? “We have to switch to aphorisms and ‘learn Chinese.’ Otherwise, someone will get squashed by a falling piano and we’ll be sued because his cookie said he was going to win the lottery instead of ‘avoid walking past open fourth story windows.'”

Or maybe they have been pressured by the astrology columnist lobby? “Get off our turf, Chinese fortune cookie company!”

Another possibility: fortunes are too difficult to write. Burn-out sets in. Everyone’s just a hack these days, durnit.

Or maybe it’s easier to avoid printing gaffes like the ones published here if you stick to sayings instead of fortunes . . .