When your wooden fire extinguisher is engulfed in flames

The labels on this wonderful photo, sent from a friend of a friend is traveling in China, read: "wooden fire extinguisher" and "irony fire extinguisher."   Someone at my friend's workplace who saw it commented that it's always handy to have an irony extinguisher, especially when your wooden fire extinguisher is engulfed in flames.

 Let me also say that I admire anyone who speaks another language and attempts to learn English. The subtleties are vast, and there is way too much room for misunderstanding.

I have quite a bit more experience with people whose sense of humor and irony, and I'm talking about native speakers of English, appears to be slightly to extremely impaired. I grew up in a family where the spacious quality of ridiculousness was valued highly. If I'd had an irony extinguisher growing up, I might have avoided a great deal of discomfort felt by friends who visited my home and left puzzled and concerned. Of course, as they went out the door, I am ashamed to admit, we were often laughing helplessly, and crying, ironically, with a kind of joy.