How to Approach 'Paternity' Time Off With Potential Clients?

[dty]

Irony: "Would you like a punch in the face?" "Oooh, yes please!"

Not irony: "You're here to cover mat leave." "Oh. Can I have 2 weeks off when my baby is born, please?"

[speling bee]

Irony: "Would you like a punch in the face?" "Oooh, yes please!"

Not irony: "You're here to cover mat leave." "Oh. Can I have 2 weeks off when my baby is born, please?"

What do you make of this:

List of unusual deaths - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of unusual deaths. This list includes unique or extremely rare circumstances of death recorded throughout history, noted as being unusual by multiple sources. Some of the deaths are mythological or are considered to be unsubstantiated by contemporary researchers. Oxford Dictionaries defines the word "unusual" as "not habitually or commonly occurring or done" and "remarkable or interesting because different from or better than others."[1]
Some other articles also cover deaths that might be considered unusual or ironic, including list of entertainers who died during a performance, list of inventors killed by their own inventions, list of association footballers who died while playing, list of professional cyclists who died during a race and the list of political self-immolations.

Do you think it is ironic that:

James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton (1581) was executed in Edinburgh on the Scottish Maiden which he had introduced to Scotland as Regent.

[dty]

No. Hilarious, maybe. Inconvenient, probably. Highly amusing coincidence, yes. Ironic, no.

Because that's not what irony is! Just because people use it thus does not make it so. Like that stupid "Isn't it Ironic" song - nothing about it is ironic.

As Bender said in Futurama: "The use of words expressing something other than their literal intention."

[speling bee]

No. Hilarious, maybe. Inconvenient, probably. Highly amusing coincidence, yes. Ironic, no.

Because that's not what irony is! Just because people use it thus does not make it so. Like that stupid "Isn't it Ironic" song - nothing about it is ironic.

As Bender said in Futurama: "The use of words expressing something other than their literal intention."

So what do you make of this:

irony: definition of irony in Oxford dictionary (British & World English)

A state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result:
the irony is that I thought he could help me
[COUNT NOUN]: one of life’s little ironies
MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES
It would be the final irony of this extraordinary affair if the fight were to be cancelled on the grounds that it could be a threat to public order.
It's at this point I begin to wonder whether Wayne's post is actually satirical, replete with deliberate ironies I completely missed.
There's plenty of irony in seeing one monopoly accuse another monopoly of restricting users' choices.

[Taita]

I did but it's Taita. Look at some of his/her posts you just don't know.

Are you one of those who has been denied an English certificate?

[SueEllen]

They can still act annoyed because you don't want the time off for when you planned it, I had a client get the hump and I only took 3 days off and still worked a half day when my son was born and they still whinged about not giving enough notice about the change of date

On a more serious note your client was a cretin.

You should have simply asked them "Where you born on the day the midwife predicted?"

[speling bee]

On a more serious note your client was a cretin.

You should have simply asked them "Where you born on the day the midwife predicted?"

4 to 5% of babies are born on their due date, so it's not a bad bet, but you need a back-up.

[d000hg]

Tell the client, not the agent.

If the client doesn't understand that you will need a couple of weeks with your newborn, then you may not want to work with them anyway.

I wouldn't (and didn't) want to be working with a client who expected me to prioritise their project over my family life.

Don't take a new contract when you're just about to have a baby then - which IIRC was the original position rather than taking a 12mo contract and expecting a baby in 6.

[speling bee]

Irony: "Would you like a punch in the face?" "Oooh, yes please!"

Not irony: "You're here to cover mat leave." "Oh. Can I have 2 weeks off when my baby is born, please?"

Don't take a new contract when you're just about to have a baby then - which IIRC was the original position rather than taking a 12mo contract and expecting a baby in 6.

This is all very inneresting, but the important thing is that I TOTALLY won the argument about irony.

[dty]

Or another way to look at it: 5pm rolled around, I packed up and walked off site and was so totally bored by the whole thing that I found it more interesting to stick a fork into my leg all the way home than to bother replying. :-)