Kiss and Tell

Creating a comic effect through an awkward encounter between a teenager and her parents in public in "Kiss and Tell", Alain de Botton utilizes situational irony to convey the idea that often times parents and their children have more in common than they would like to believe.
In the beginning of the story, Isabel states that, "[her parents will] be too busy arguing where [her dad] put the car park ticket" instead of actually paying attention to her; but they do notice her and make their presence known very well to her and the rest of the audience. Isabel, seeming to know her parents very well, predicted that in fact her parents would argue about the loss of the car park ticket.When Isabel and her parents reunited so to speak after the play, her mother was not having a good day because, "[she was] lumbered with someone who [keeps] losing tickets to the car park", when in reality if her father continuously loses the tickets, the mother could just hold onto it. Isabel, believing she has nothing in common with her parents, just so happens to have attended a play that her parents were at together.