Murphy’s law

Scene 1: ” Shucks, it’s already 8 am!! Just an hour left!  There’s a lot left to cram for the final paper. Cross my fingers and hope that what I have prepared for will only come.

Which was not what happened to me…..

Scene 2: Ah it’s raining today. The road will be muddy on the way. Remind me to avoid walking on the side of the road. The last thing I want is to get this suit ruined ! Ah nearly there !

Damn ! I am ruined for the day, thanks to the car. And I was just one block away!!!

Scene 3: It’s 7 in the evening and I am rushing against the foot traffic. The last thing I want to do is to pick up my fiancée late for our engagement dinner. Got delayed from office, thanks to the boss!! Reached the commuter train. All cancelled due to a breakdown in the railways. The next bus will come only in another hour, I stay a little out of town. Great, how much better can life get ?! Reservations were made for 8 and the worst thing is that I couldn’t postpone it.

Actually, there are too many scenes to enumerate in our daily lives, where in when we want something to go so badly right, it goes totally wrong. I welcome you all officially to Murphy’s Law….

Murphy’s law is an adage or epigram that is typically stated as: “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”. To quote, it’s similar to any of the proverbs that we generally hear, like better late than never.

These “memorable sayings” holds some important fact of experiences in life that is considered true by many people, or that has gained some credibility through its long use. It often involves a planning failure such as “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” or “don’t burn bridges behind you.” These adages may be either interesting observations, practical or ethical guidelines, or skeptical comments. When combined with dry wit or irony, it’s known as an epigram. Which is what Murphy’s law, is all about !!!

Going into historical details, is quite tedious. To keep it short: It was initially understood in a report by Alfred Holt at an 1877 meeting of an engineering society:

It is found that anything that can go wrong at sea generally does go wrong sooner or later, so it is not to be wondered that owners prefer the safe to the scientific…. Sufficient stress can hardly be laid on the advantages of simplicity. The human factor cannot be safely neglected in planning machinery. If attention is to be obtained, the engine must be such that the engineer will be disposed to attend to it. (^ Holt, Alfred. “Review of the Progress of Steam Shipping during the last Quarter of a Century,” Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Vol. LI, Session 1877-78—Part I, at 2, 8 (November 13, 1877 session, published 1878)

Since then, it has been quoted in various papers covering topics like magic, genetics, science, atomic energy commissions!!!……

It’s association with the name Murphy, comes from an attempt to use new measurement devices developed by the person Edward Murphy(fiction or non fictitious name, only history knows). The phrase was coined in adverse reaction to something Murphy said when his devices failed to perform and was eventually cast into its present form prior to a press conference some months later. (According to the book A History of Murphy’s Law by author Nick T. Spark ).

Set aside all the historical bit: Murphy’s Law has driven me nuts during some of the most important events of my life. I am sure many of you would agree with me on this aspect.It just ultimately, results me in throwing up my hands in the air, and walking away. I guess it call for the provincial principle to be made, a back up plan for every major event. Which is why, before every major event, I make it a point to mentally prepare myself for the worst possible scenario.

So the next time, anything goes blatantly wrong, blame it on Murphy’s law!!!

( Historical info from Wikipedia!!!)