Read the excerpt from "The Lottery."

Soon the men began to gather, surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes. They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed. The women, wearing faded house dresses and sweaters, came shortly after their menfolk. They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husbands.

What information from the excerpt is ironic?

A. that the women were plainly dressed
B. that the women arrived after their husbands
C. that the men stood away from the pile of stones
D. that the men talked of commonplace topics