Is this irony

There's an episode of "Futurama" in which Fry wants to get better hands so he can play a musical instrument and woo a woman. Fry's robot friend, Bender, takes Fry to Robot Hell to get the new hands. As in any story about Hell, the Robot Devil in this one wants to deal so he puts the names of all the robots on earth on a giant spinning wheel. Whomever the clicker lands on, Fry will switch his hands with.

The clicker lands on the Robot Devil himself, who responds, "Oh, isn't this just ironic."

Bender retorts: "No, it's not. It's just coincidence. Now give him your hands."

So, in the spirit of this "Futurama" lesson in irony, I give you this:

Paul, a friend from Jayne's work, had been planning his annual barbecue for several months. He painfully worked out a time that accommodated us (it had to be a Sunday when I was off work) and Derek, his girlfriend, Irena, from Montreal who was in town for only a few weeks, and Derek's sister, Lauren, who was only back in town from London for a short time.

After much schedule crunching, we came up with last Sunday.

Paul does a great job at cooking and his wife makes fantastic food to go with the ribs. Since I don't eat meat, she made some special veggie dishes.

One last item: Paul thinks I dislike him. This stems in part from me not being at many events when he is there, or me having to leave early when he is present. This actually results from having to take care of the kids or go to work, but the appearance is that I leave when he arrives.

So, this Sunday event was to break this image.

Well, we arrived at 3 p.m. Derek, Irena and Lauren show up. Paul takes us for a tour of his mini-orchard in his yard and we get our first chance to talk to Irena since she's been in West Michigan and Laren since she's been back from studying in Britain (Lauren was just in Las Vegas for a roller derby convention. Yes, she is a roller derby player!). All have lots of interesting stories to tell.

Jayne's cell rings. It's her mom from home. My work called at home. I return the call. The main desk guy called in sick. I have to leave the party at just after 4 p.m. and go to work.

Now, is this irony? Coincidence? Or tragedy?

Thought: Isn't it ironic, don't you think?