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We’ve all heard Murphy’s simple theory concerning life – “if anything can go wrong, it will.”

Some say that Murphy was an optimist, but all I really know about him is that Air Force Captain Edward A. Murphy accidentally stumbled upon his now-famous line while working on a special project at Edwards Air Force Base in 1949 designed to see how much sudden deceleration a person can stand in a crash. One day, after finding that a transducer was wired wrong, he cursed the technician responsible and said, “If there is any way to do it wrong, he’ll find it.”

However, Murphy isn’t alone when it comes to the proverbial wheels falling off life’s bandwagon. Personally, I can come-up with a few hateful little morsels that make our lives here on Earth so frustrating. Here’s a sampling:

If you’re running late, you’ll get stuck behind the slowest vehicle.

If you’re in the shortest checkout line, there’s a 100 percent chance of a lengthy wait due to a price check.

Keeping on the same theme as the previous line, once reaching the cashier, chances are great that they will either (a) have to replace the paper in the receipt device; (b) run out of change and have to wait for the girl in the office to get off the phone; or, in the worse case scenario, (c) all of the above.

You can be operating the only car approaching an intersection and the traffic light will turn red. Honestly…this happens to me all the time; or I’ll be the third vehicle in line at the traffic light, which turns green and the first two vehicles react so slowly that the light will turn back red and catch me.

If you arrive early for work to impress the boss, make plans to stay late because he/she will load you down with added chores.

Just about the time you break in a good shirt you’ll be forced to use it as a Chamois to dry your car.

The day you leave home dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, the weather will turn ugly. Ditto for leaving home dressed in long sleeves and pants as the weather will turn sunny and warm.

As you sit down for a long-awaited meal, either the phone will ring or someone will knock at your door.

Your phone also rings during two other occasions – when your hands are full of packages/bags/etc. or while you’re fumbling for your keys in an attempt to gain entry to your home.

A toothache always arrives just in time for the weekend, when the dentist office is closed.

Your car radio will lose the station’s signal just as the guitar solo kicks in on your favorite song or a comedian is delivering their punch line.

That little squeak coming from your vehicle carries a big price tag to repair, typically just a few days or miles after the warranty has expired.

You have all six numbers right on the $100 million Powerball jackpot only to learn several others have the identical set of numbers.

Those are just a few of my favorites, but there are others who take Murphy’s Law to a whole new level. They are as follows:

Nonreciprocal Laws of Expectations – Negative expectations yield negative results. Positive expectations yield negative results.

Zymurgy’s First Law of Evolving Systems Dynamics – Once you open a can of worms, the only way to recan them is to use a larger can.

Etorre’s Observation – The other line always moves faster.

The Law of Selective Gravity – The chance of the bread falling with the buttered side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet.

Maier’s Law – If the facts do not conform to the theory, they must be disposed of.

Stapp’s Ironical Paradox, which says, “The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle.”

The Ninety-Ninety Rule of Project Schedules – The first 90 percent of a task will take 90 percent of the time to complete. The last 10 percent will take the other 90 percent.

Hoare’s Law of Large Problems – Inside every large problem is a small problem trying to get out.

I’ll close out this column with my all-time favorite. What always follows two days of rain? Monday, of course.

Cal Bryant is the Editor of Roanoke-Chowan Publications. Contact him at cal.bryant@r-cnews.com or 252-332-7207.