Sure Thing by David Ives

Irony and satire go hand in hand. The thesis “labels are not important” is ironic because it is the opposite of what is demonstrated in the scene—and, in fact, in the entire play. The scene shows that labels are important, because Bill can’t make headway with Betty with a poor GPA or being from an economically depressed Midwestern city. Labels, it is implied, are used to assess economic prospects. “Sure Thing” is an ironic phrase because Bill and Betty endure many failures in parallel lives throughout the play, and thus, on a meta level, are not at all a sure thing..