Alanis Morisette's "Isn't it Ironic?" was an ironic tragedy for us all.
'Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
"Well isn't this nice..."'
... but the last line is still sarcasm, not irony.
It's like 10,000 spoons, when all you need is a knife.
It's like meeting the man of your dreams, and then meeting his beautiful husband.
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break.
Does the qualifier "it's like" affect its intent?
So we have the action of a protagonist causing the opposite effect of what was intended--irony. The items Alanis lists are mainly really annoying.
Alanis is a regional manager, overseeing several stores. Her office is located in a specific store. Alanis decices to institute a 'no smoking' policy on breaks for all stores, but not her own store (where her office is located - she loves to smoke cigarettes).
Corporate agrees and it becomes company policy. Impressed by Alanis's HR policy, they transfer her to an ailing store, where smoking is banned and she cannot undo corporate policy.
That was what I was pointing out.