Everyday comedy: irony

Self-tutoring about comedy in everyday life: the tutor mentions a funny thing that happened.

I was walking home on the sidewalk last week when, looking up, I saw a cyclist, on the same sidewalk, approaching.

“Hey…watch out! You f….,” the man on a bicycle shouted. He knew that if he hit me, it wouldn’t go well for him – especially since I was weighted down with a heavy bag in my left hand.

The cyclist seemed completely outraged that I could be sharing the sidewalk with him. Riding the bicycle, he had no right to be there, in my opinion; in contrast, I, as a pedestrian, had every right. Nonetheless, I stayed to one side so he could get by.

This is a humourous example of gaslighting. One sees situations like it more and more often: Someone who is absurdly in the wrong accuses someone else of being uncooperative. As we move further into relativism, such situations will likely gain frequency.