Jackson, a tall, black-haired millennial, wearing a smile as wide as his shoulders, gathered Katherine, a petite blonde, in his arms and kissed her passionately. She had just accepted his proposal while posing together in the photo booth at the L.A. County Fairgrounds. They meandered over for lunch to an BBQ grill and ordered turkey legs. These oversized, succulent, plump poultry gams claimed their full gustatory attention as they fiddled with their much-needed stack of napkins.

 

As they ate, they spotted Isabella's Fortune Booth. Curious. Emboldened. Almost euphoric. They wandered over to the booth with their turkey legs. What would the crystal ball tell them? Jackson bought two $1.00 tickets, one for each of them to insert in the slot. The booth was framed by blinking lights. Inside sat a replica of an old woman with large golden hoop earrings, a scarf around her head, and shoulders wrapped in a green-grey shawl. On her face was painted an all-knowing smile outlined by ruby-red lips. Her hands were poised over a stained and cracked crystal ball. Her brown eyes followed each passerby.

 

Jackson went first. Why he was anxious, he couldn’t understand. But he wanted to appear patient while he waited for the printout. When the clickety-click of the printer ended, and the printed tape emerged, he grabbed it quickly, tearing off most of it, but leaving a small portion still in the machine. He read aloud what he found on the tape:

            “Think your choices over carefully. Do not begin what you cannot finish…”

 

He was horrified. Katherine tried to calm him down, saying, “This is an automated machine programmed to spew out random comments, like in a fortune cookie.”

           

Katherine slipped her ticket into the slot and waited for the printing to finish.

 

            Soon they heard the printer finishing its task. First, the unread part of Jackson’s tape emerged, followed by Katherine’s fortune.  The remnant of Jackson’s fortune ended with:

 

“…since your eyes are larger than your stomach. Smaller portions are recommended.”

 

Jackson looked relieved. Then came Katherine’s fortune.

 

“Good decisions don’t require second guessing. Be strong in your convictions.”

 

After she read it aloud, they looked at each other trying to interpret how the two fortunes connected with one another. They couldn’t integrate the meanings, but they could exert some control over them. The first thing they did was throw out their turkey legs.