Isn't It Ironic?

My friend Suz at Alive in Wonderland made me laugh today, which is no surprise since she makes me laugh quite often. This is what she wrote on Twitter:

"I've given up irony for lent. It's been difficult and spending time with my parents hasn't helped."

I started thinking about irony.  Like when I ran into an ex-boyfriend in the Honolulu airport. Like when the only American people on the island of Bora Bora that my family met . . . were from Hayfork, California?  Which is a mountain town above my valley. They were astounded that we had heard of Hayfork; we were thrilled that they had heard of Orland.

Ironic.

That reminded me that I have a story from my friend Bob Cleveland, about irony. I thought you might enjoy this.

(Photo stolen from these guys)

Arguably one of the weirdest and funniest things that EVER happened to me was in 1997, in Bauska, Latvia.

We were there as a singing group, ministering at meetings in Latvia, and Pskov, Russia. On a free afternoon, we were walking around downtown Bauska and the others in the group (of 12) wanted to go into a store and "shop." So I sat down outside on this little wooden bench, next to an 18-year-old girl named Yunona Baleiva. She had insisted on carrying the big box of dark chocolate bars I'd bought to bring home.

She spoke no English and I spoke no Latvian or Russian. Not one word.

So after maybe 3 or 4 minutes, I said (recalling a tad of German that I had studied in 1954 (yes...FORTY THREE YEARS BEFORE)..."du bis wundershoen."  Which means "you are pretty (or beautiful)."

She immediately brightened up and said "ahhh...SPRECHEN sie DEUTCH??" (do you speak German)

I laughed and said "ein bisschen"...a little.

We were off to the races...she asked me some simple questions like do I have a wife, kids, grandkids, etc.   We "talked" for maybe 5 minutes and then the group came back out and that was that.

1954 sophomore 2 semester German, dredged up and used in 1997. I cannot tell you how much I've laughed about that since. And the funny thing is we've visited with friends in Otterfing, Germany, twice and I didn't know NEARLY enough German to talk German with somebody who lives there...

I thought you might enjoy the irony of the situation.

So I'm asking you, what can you tell me about irony?  Maybe something that has happened to you that you found very ironic . . . leave it in a comment, or write a post and leave the link here in a comment so we can all come read it and go "oooooooooooooooh."  I'm counting on you to have better irony stories than running into an old boyfriend (to whom I wasn't speaking) in an airport 3000 miles from home.

Huge thanks to Bob Cleveland for his irony story and his friendship.

Comments

[Suz broughton]

Oh, I just love seeing my name in writing. THanks for the linkie.
I can't tell you what know about irony because that will be irony--which I have given up for lent. Arr, I'm doing it right now aren't I?
Drat!

[MommyTime]

How about: I spent three years dating a British guy, and doing our mutual best to be on the same side of the Atlantic at the same time (and often being able to connect only through letters) -- only to have him get into a graduate program at my university and rent an apartment two blocks away from me...mere WEEKS after we broke up. And then I had to spend the NEXT three years doing everything I could to avoid running into him or hearing reports of sightings of him every single day.

[Ellie]

All these stories seem to be about traveling, but....

Bill and I were in Dublin ages ago -- 1993. We'd noted to eachother that it was *such* a white city. We did not ONE person of color as we walked around and around and around. We were near Trinity College one day and from a distance spotted a black guy. "Oh look! A black person." (I know, I know, it sounds odd but it WAS odd). And then we got closer.... "Hi T.J." "Hi Ellie."

[Bob Cleveland]

I'vebeen thinking of giving up hypothetical questions for Lent.

I wonder .. what will that be like?

[Busy Bee Suz]

What a great story...I don't know if I can think of anything ironic enough to post it...but I enjoy reading others!!!
Suz

[Bridget]

Ooooh I LOVE irony! Ok here's my newest one...

I was recently invited to a casual gathering of local bloggers on a Sunday afternoon at one lady blogger's house. I had never met anyone in person before, and had honestly only read a few of their blogs before. We drank cosmos and had a wonderful time. A few days later I was mentioning to my fiance (who is an avid paddle tennis player) that this particular blogger also occasionally played paddle with her husband, and I had a feeling it was at the same club my fiance (Billy) played for, because they lived in that town. This particular club is about 30 mins from our house, but its one of the only ones in the area that accepts non-club members on their paddle teams (and doesn't cost a fortune). So Billy asked me what their last name was. Once I gave it to him he thought for a minute and realized that he had been teaching this woman's husband tennis (Billy is also a tennis pro) for the past 2 months.

Just one of those small world things. I realize that it seemed a lot more interesting when it actually happened than it does written here.

[Mental P Mama]

I love Irony. And I loved your response to her on twitter.... I wonder if she has had her colossal Lenten Fail yet.

[Kyddryn]

I hate irony - I can never seem to get all the wrinkles out, and usually wind up pressing some in anyway...and also, buttons are a bane...wait...wait...you said ironY, not ironING.

Dang.

Sorry, I have nothin'.

Shade and Sweetwater,
K