Life's Little Ironies

Life is ironic, for sure.  You just have to be cognizant enough to recognize the brilliant little (and sometimes naughty) tricks and twists that life throws at you.  One of my favorite literary devices is irony.  It has fueled great works such as "Romeo and Juliet" as well as memorable short stories such as Shirley Jackson's "The Gift." But it can also be found in the mundane occurrences of our daily lives.  Let me me give you a couple examples from my own recent experiences:


No. 1:  C'est WHAT?
We have a friend that does a lot of traveling and likes his children to study foreign languages.  He is preparing them for world travels, no doubt, but sometimes they have a hard time seeing the big picture and frankly just want to be kids and throw a ball around instead of conjugating verbs.  Apparently his persistence is paying off because his son recently shared some of his knowledge (although not completely technically correct) with my daughter.
Natalie:  "Mom, do you know what caca de toro means?"
Me: "No, I sure don't.  What does it mean?"
Natalie:  "It means bullshit in Spanish."
C'est WHAT?
Me (calmly, of course):  "Uh, who taught you that?"
Natalie:  "Jeremy." [name changed to protect the relatively innocent]
I'm not so sure that this is what our friend had in mind, but at least the kid is thinking in a foreign language, right?


No. 2:  Cinderella Went to the Ball....Eventually
My sister Julie works very hard in a thankless job.  In fact, many would consider her job to be a real-life version of "The Office," although not as fun.  She works as a pricing manager for paper company.  I know.  But it pays very well......well enough that she can afford to go to France with my brother and sister-in-law this week.  I was so happy for her when she told me that she was going - it was something really nice for her to look forward to.  She left on Friday and called me from the airport.
Me:  "Hey, what are you doing?"
Julie:  "I just got through security in Lexington and am about to board my flight to Charlotte.  What are YOU doing?"
Me:  "I'm on my hands and knees scrubbing my kitchen floor."
Julie:  "Oh. So I'm meeting Dave and Cat at their hotel when I arrive in Paris and then we're taking the train to Provence.  I think we are going to have a private tour of one of the vineyards and lunch with the owner next week."
Me:  "That's great!  I'm scrubbing my baseboards. "
Yes, I am playing Cinderella, literally on my hands and now slightly-bruised knees, armed with a smelly rag, scrubbing the baseboards in my kitchen.  C'est ironique, mes amis.