"Irony deals with opposites; it has nothing to do with coincidence. If two baseball palyers from the same hometown, on different teams, receive the same uniform number, it is not ironic. It is a coincidence. If Barry Bonds attains lifetime statistics identical to his father’s it will not be ironic. It will be a coincidence. Irony is "a state of affairs that is the reverse of what was to be expected; a result opposite to and in mockery of the appropriate result." For instance:
If a diabetic, on his way to buy insulin, is killed by a runaway truck, he is the victim of an accident. If the truck was delivering sugar, he is the victim of an oddly poetic coincidence. But if the truck was delivering insulin, ah! Then he is the victim of an irony.
If a Kurd, after surviving bloody battle with Saddam Hussein’s army and a long, difficult escape through the mountains, is crushed and killed by a parachute drop of humanitarian aid, that, my friend, is irony writ large.
Darryl Stingley, the pro football player, was paralyzed after a brutal hit by Jack Tatum. Now Darryl Stingley’s son plays football, and if the son should become paralyzed while playing, it will not be ironic. It will be coincidental. If Darryl Stingley’s son paralyzes someone else, that will be closer to ironic. If he paralyzes Jack Tatum’s son that will be precisely ironic..."
--George Carlin
In addition to being an accomplished pianist, receiving the presidential Medal of Freedom, working with early Child Developmental Psychology developer Erik Erikkson, being an ordained Presbyterian minister and almost single-handedly saving PBS, Fred Rogers also reassured each of us that the bathtub monster would never pull us down the drain since we couldn't possibly fit.
I will never forget the episode, viewed later in life, where Mr Rogers jammed on the Neighborhood's theme music with Wynton Marsalis. Fred Rogers had some serious chops; the man could PLAY. The very epitome of cool.
My sister lives in Pittsburgh and I've spent considerable time there. if anyone says something bad about Fred, they'll have a real problem with me and a few thousand (former) steel workers.