Small Consolation
When her sister Yvonne is picked to come on down and make bids in attempt to get on stage with Bob Barker on The Price is Right, she fails miserably. All is not lost, however, as a month later her consolation prizes are delivered. These items are a cornucopia of irony: suntan oil (for a Mexican American complexion) and a Beta Max videocassette recorder:
“We felt wonderful knowing that Beta Max would be around for a long time.”
It wouldn't, quickly beaten out for dominance by VHS.
The Desk
Michele’s mother invests in an expensive and oversized desk as a show of faith in her young daughter’s ambition to become a writer. What is supposed to be an object of inspiration instead becomes an ironic reminder of failure to live up to her mother’s faith.
Family Advice
“Annie Says” is a story told in verse about the advice doled out to her by her Aunt Annie. The advice begins by warning her that she can never hope to be a writer because she has no experience and ends with the assertion that nobody is ever going to buy her books. Not just irony, but the sweetest sort for a published writer who finally enjoys commercial success.
Beta Max, Part II
The Beta Max reappears in the author’s second boo, How to be a Chicana Role Model. The opening story is about a celebrity coming to her school and her excitement is stimulated in part because she can no longer watch him in his role on General Hospital anymore because “our Betamax is already broke.” The irony here being that, of course, the Price is Right consolation prize for losing contestants who never made it onto the stage became useless even before the dominance of VHS made it obsolete.
California Girls
Ironically, “Senior Picture Day” is a story that revolves around the narrator’s friend becoming hooked on using her dad’s CB radio, a device which briefly spiked in popularity at the time due to an unlikely hit song. The discussion turns to handles—the nickname people use with others on the radio—and the narrator suggests for herself Cali Girl which her friend responds to negatively by immediately leaping to the stereotype: “California is like, blond girls, you know.” To which the narrator responds with ironic truth that nevertheless fails to convince her friend:
“Yeah, but I am Californian. I mean, real Californian. Even my great-grandma was born here.”
