MURPHY'S LAW

You invite your friends over to watch a final football match on TV. There are plenty of juices in the refrigerator, you have bowls filled with your favorite snacks on the table, and you are all set to watch the big match.You turn on the TV set, and all you get are fuzzy images on the screen.When you get in a line at the supermarket, you find you've chosen the slowest one, and it just doesn't move, Is this bad luck or coincidence?For example, in the supermarket with five cashiers, the chances of getting the fastest lane are 20 percent, and 80 percent for a slower lane.Matthews became a popular scientist when he proved that a piece of toast doesn't necessarily fall on the floor on the buttered side.BBC Television gathered 300 people to throw pieces of buttered toast up in the air and observe on which side they fell.He explains that our selective memories tend to remember the bad episodes more readily than the things that usually work out.Similar situations occur all the time.