![]() He’s likely turning to one of Lau’s fortunes for solace: “The opposite of stressed is desserts, need relief, order some more. “It’s a search that we have the luxury of doing slowly, making sure we find the right person,” Wong says. Throughout the years, the company has considered getting other writers, even reaching the interview stage, but Wong says they have not been able to find anyone who has the same cleverness and humor as Lau. An element of Chinese tradition Wong said he hopes the fortune cookies emphasize is taking time during a meal to have meaningful discussion with friends and family. The database of fortunes itself continues to be updated to make sure messages are kept modern while still being infused with traditional Chinese principles. In the early 1990s, Wonton Food was responsible for adding the Chinese lesson and the lucky numbers on the back of the fortune. Passed down from a father, Ching Sun Wong, to son Norman Wong, the business now produces 4 million cookies a day out of its factories in Queens, New York, and Houston. She got the job, and spent the next year gleaning fortune. Wonton Food started as a noodle factory in Manhattan’s Chinatown in 1973 and expanded into the fortune cookie business in the 1980s. One writer, Kay Marshall Strom, was a high school senior when she saw an ad in her local San Francisco paper searching for cookie scribes. In the 1990s, Wonton Food opened a factory in Guangzhou, China, only to close it after a few years when the cookies failed to pick up steam in the country. Wong says they are rooted in Chinese history, when Chinese patriots rebelling against the Ching dynasty passed messages hidden in pastries.ĭespite the company’s fortune cookie distribution around the globe – in the Middle East, Europe and South America – the cookies still remain widely unknown in China. Some say they’re actually an American invention, originating from either a Chinese or Japanese restaurant on the West Coast in the early 1900s. The origin of fortune cookies is much debated. “We see it as our mission to spread Chinese culture and philosophy around the world.” “We are a Chinese-American company,” Wong said. But current Wonton Food CEO Norman Wong believes the job carries deep responsibilities in upholding Chinese tradition. Lau says the job was given to him by default, because he spoke the best English when the company was founded. Wonton Foods has a database of thousands of fortunes, gathered from the ones Lau has written over the years, open submissions and the Internet. This slowdown of fortune writing hasn’t affected production. “I am the most read author in the United States.” “I feel that I will never be able to write the great American novel, but I can write the fortunes,” he says. Due to writer’s block and the company’s expansion, Lau now writes two or three fortunes a month. Lau has been the sole hired fortune writer since the company acquired fortune cookie factories more than 30 years ago.įinding inspiration from all aspects of life, from taking the subway to participating in business meetings, Lau used to write two or three axioms a day. ![]() But he has also become the unofficial CFW, or chief fortune writer. Lau works as the chief financial officer at Wonton Food Company, the largest manufacturer of fortune cookies in the world. It’s a way to end a meal in a Chinese restaurant and be happy when you leave.” “I don’t think fortune cookies are meant to be like a horoscope. “I don’t think I’m a fortuneteller,” Lau says. Whatever your interpretation of that slip of paper, fortune cookie writer Donald Lau only hopes it leaves you happy. Thank you to the Level Playing Field Institute for this statement of non-discrimination.Crack open a fortune cookie, and you may find a strange message from the universe or a wise piece of advice. We value a diverse workforce – people who identify as women, nonbinary or gender non-conforming, LGBTQIA+, American Indian or Native Alaskan, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, differently-abled, caretakers and parents, and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. Whether blatant or hidden, barriers to success have no place at DoorDash. Above and beyond discrimination and harassment based on “protected categories,” we also strive to prevent other subtler forms of inappropriate behavior (i.e., stereotyping) from ever gaining a foothold in our office. Statement of Non-Discrimination: In keeping with our beliefs and goals, no employee or applicant will face discrimination or harassment based on: race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, age, gender, marital/domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability status, or veteran status.
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