Messages inside fortune cookies often predict good news in business, health, or relationships. In fact, Wonton Foods Inc—the world’s largest manufacturer of the biscuit—writes fortunes in such a way that they can’t be construed negatively. After all, no one wants to round off their chow mein noodles by finding out that they’re about to get fired/sick/dumped.
Rarely though, do the fortunes come true. (That promise of true love still hasn’t manifested on any of the last five Tinder dates.). But for one guy in Iowa, the cookie prediction did come true.
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When Charles Svatos went out for dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, he received a fortune cookie at the end of the meal that read: “You will discover an unexpected treasure.” Not thinking much of it, the 92-year-old put the fortune in his wallet. A few days later when checking his lottery ticket, Svatos found he had won a cool $390,000.
No biggie.
Svatos told local news site KWWL.com that he’d been playing the Iowa Lottery since it started in the 1980s. He said that the win was unexpected: “I never remembered a fortune cookie being that accurate. I never believed in them. [I was] surprised more than anything.”
The retired former dairy company worker said he planned to take his daughters to Alaska to celebrate his good fortune.
Sometimes, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.