In 1912 there was a brilliant Scientist residing in London called Sir Albert William Sodd.
Sir Albert studied a great many things in his life but one thing that fascinated him the most was human instinct and the series of outside sources that trigger the reactions humans give.
An example of this is the way, when cold, a person will instinctively wrap their coat tighter around them or hug themselves so as to preserve body heat.
Sir Albert devoted most of his work towards studying how these instincts are brought about. However in 1912, he made a discovery that would be the basis of all his future work.
One sunny morning, Sir Albert went for a walk in the park and came across Dorothy and Leonard Holdstock. They were a young couple strolling down the path towards him.
Without any reason to suggest she needed it, Dorothy suddenly opened her umbrella and handed it to Leonard to hold over them both.
Within moments, the clear blue sky was filled with clouds and rain started to pour down.
Amazed by this, Sir Albert asked Dorothy how she had known to put up her umbrella. Dorothy had shrugged at this and said it was something she had always been able to detect.
Sir Albert convinced Dorothy to take part in a new study. During this study, Sir Albert discovered that as incredible as Dorothy's little talent was, her mother had actually been able to heighten her instincts even more. An example Dorothy had given was that when she was travelling anywhere, she was able to know which route would be the quickest and safest journey by following her instincts alone. Every time she had been correct.
Taking all of his findings from the study, with this main discovery as the base, Sir Albert concluded the following:
Dorothy Holdstock had heightened instincts that appeared to be carried somewhere in her genes, active only in the females of the family. However, with each new generation these heightened instincts seemed to be diluted slightly.
Measuring the extent of the dilution with each new generation, he predicted that this handy quirk would be completely neutralised in just two generations time, rendering her granddaughters with the same instincts as everyone else.
However, it was this next prediction that created a rule we know very well today.
The dilution of these instincts, he concluded, could not be thought to end at the point of neutralisation. Therefore it can be assumed that the next generation (her great-granddaughter) would have instincts that fall below average, causing situations to occur that seem unlucky and annoying and throwing that woman's life into a never ending stream of ironic events that cause her to constantly wonder "why me?"
Using the umbrella scenario, an example of this would be her carrying an umbrella in her bag for three months without there being a drop of rain and then the day she decides to leave it at home, it pours down.
Sir Albert William Sodd saw this revelation for the ground breaking discovery that it was and wrote a paper on it. From that day forward, that level of irony would be commonly known as 'Sodd's Law.'
My name's Lisa Harries. Dorothy and Leonard Holdstock were my great grandparents. Two weeks ago I finally got my iphone back from the insurance company after three months of not being able to use it. Since I have had it I have treated the phone like it was the most expensive artefact in all the world. Two days ago, in a moment of rushing out of the house, I treated it like a normal phone for the first time since I had it back and I did this.
Just another ironic scenario to add to the pile.
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