The Irony of It

Who doesn't appreciate dramatic irony? It makes you feel smart, smarter than the person who experiences it. But you're probably not.

One of my favorite activities is dramatic ironing. This is a joke my friend created years ago. Now I actually do dramatic ironing because I live on the 31st floor with a fantastic view to the east. It makes ironing tolerable.

On the subject of irons, my son Mark shocked us last night when he said: I have to stop at Columbia to get my iron. Marty and I went slack-jawed. What had happened to our son? He didn't pick up on our shock and just said: yeah, I need my iron pills or I risk becoming anemic again.

This isn't an example of irony. It's an example of the English language not having enough words to express numerous meanings. While it's true that irons used to be made out of iron and that iron is Latin for "ferrum" (hence the element FE), we briefly had serious doubts about our number one son who has never touched an iron in his life.