Irony is defined as follows:
(1) Incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result. (2) An event or result marked by such an incongruity. (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 1977 edition)
One tragic example of real-life irony about which I recently read concerns a motorcyclist in New York last July. The helmetless man was riding his motorcycle as a part of a large group of cyclists staging an organized protest over the state’s mandatory helmet law. The 55 year old man crashed, hitting his head on the road, and suffering a fatal skull fracture. A state trooper was quoted, “The doctor felt that the death could have been prevented if he simply had been wearing a helmet.” (Reuters)
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