One of my favorite lines from the old “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” movie with Gene Wilder comes when Charlie Bucket and Grandpa Joe open a Wonka bar in hopes that it contains one of the golden tickets. When it does not contain a ticket, Charlie says “I bet those golden tickets make the chocolate taste terrible.” This is a perfect example of trying to find the silver lining in any given situation. Sure, Charlie and Grandpa Joe were disappointed, but Charlie chose to look on the bright side of the situation.

Similarly, the paper fortunes that they put in the cookies are a fun thing to look forward to after eating Chinese food. I mean, you really have to look forward to reading the fortune inside, because the cookies themselves are basically awful. They aren’t disgusting or anything…just…meh.

The idea for this cartoon is based on a real true event that I don’t exactly remember.

Let me explain:

You know how Facebook will show you old memories and such? Well, the other day while I was waiting for the coffee pot to brew my morning elixir, I stumbled across a post I made way back in 2011.

2011 wasn’t a particularly good year for me.

It was three years before I got sober from alcohol and pills and things were really starting to take their toll. I’ve never been the healthiest person on the planet, but my health was suffering at that point. Both physical and mental. I suppose that I was hoping that the fortune would predict something positive for me to look forward to. Instead, it promised nothing.

Empty.

Vacant.

Who knew a cookie could be such a jerk?

Fortunately, a few years later, my family would stage an intervention and get me off to rehab where things would slowly start to turn around. But that is a story for another day. Right now I am ordering Chinese take-out and hoping for the best when it comes time for the cookie. The good news is, if I get a rotten fortune again, I can always turn it into a cartoon!

That’s today’s cartoon folks! Thank you so much for stopping by. It means a lot to me. I will be back Wednesday with my next cartoon. That is unless the winning numbers on my fortune help me win the lottery. If that happens, I will be on the first flight to Hawaii to wait out the rest of the winter.

Cheers,

~tod