13 March 2009

Irony vs. absurdity

Ahh yes, it was irony. Irony is a concept the girl (my daughter, who is still without a good nickname) finds difficult to grok. Alanis Morrissette didn't help, lemme tell ya. Stuck in traffic when you're already late is not ironic unless you're a city planner, and you're on your way to a meeting to tell everyone how you've fixed the traffic problems in your city. That is irony. It's a hard concept. Sometimes I run into something and think "how ironic", but really, it's simply absurd. Like Kathy Shaidle being invited to speak to a Jewish community group. Bwuh? She's one of the most disgusting racists around. Or Bill O'Reilly, speaking to a rape survivors' group. Bill. OdouchebagReilly. "She was 5-foot-2, 105 pounds, wearing a miniskirt and a halter top with a bare midriff. Now, again, there you go. So every predator in the world is gonna pick that up at 2 in the morning." He also called her "moronic". Uh huh. A classic case of blaming the victim, and this SOB is talking to a survivors' group?! I dunno if that's irony, or just plain absurdity.

WTF are people thinking? Oh, right. People. Think. Does not compute.