There is a way for me to read without interruption.
My computer interrupted my reading with a pop-up to inform me of an app that I can get to ensure that I have “uninterrupted reading without being disturbed by pop-ups.”
Perhaps more ironic than the interruption to end interruptions is that I’ve had an app that offers uninterrupted reading ever since I was a little kid – long before I even dreamed that I might one day be interrupted by a pop-up on a computer screen.
It’s called a “book”.
Well, yes, my mother would occasionally pop up to interrupt me with a reminder of chores that remained undone… but the result would have been beyond ironic if I had actually called her a pop-up – I doubt that I would have lived long enough to be interrupted by pop-ups!
I’ve always loved irony. To me, it is the most delicious form of humour – when the irony is something you can laugh at it, that is.
When US President Donald Trump told his drogues not to believe anything they see or hear “because it’s not happening,” it was certainly laughably ironic.
But it wasn’t really very funny.
Deepening the irony was that he was speaking to a gaggle of his fans. He was telling the people who granted him his power – by allowing themselves to believe the most unbelievable things – that they shouldn’t believe anything.
And they believed him.
Okay, any way you slice it, that is funny.
That’s the thing about irony: the more closely you examine it, the more layers of irony you’re likely to find. Irony, it turns out, is ironically ironic.
Consider the strange irony that has beset Fort Langley of late.
Eric Woodward, who has announced that he may run for mayor of Langley Township, has also announced that he is proceeding with a project to beautify Fort Langley.
What better way to restore the historic village than to cover up slabs of plywood on boarded-up buildings with photos depicting some of the village’s history?
Of course, it was he who boarded the buildings up.
And he also took the village’s stature down a notch by destroying a beautiful Brandon Gabriel mural… depicting some of Fort Langley’s history.
The irony is hilarious.
But there is one other thing about irony: it’s only funny if you’re not a part of it.