Manners of the Age
Manners of the Age
With everyone gone elsewhere, Earth was perfect for gracious living—only there was nothing gracious about it!
Book Excerpt
he major-domo informed him as he moved toward the only chair at the table.
* * * * *
Robert warily retreated to the opposite side of the table and looked for another chair. None was visible.
Of course, he thought, trying to be fair. Why should anybody in this day have more than one chair? Robots don't sit.
He waited for the major-domo to leave, but it did not. The serving robots finished laying out the dishes and retired to posts along the wall. Finally, Robert decided that he would have to make his status clear or risk going hungry.
If I sit down somewhere, he decided, it may recognize me as human. What a stupid machine to have!
He started around the end of the table again, but the striped robot moved to intercept him. Robert stopped.
"Oh, well," he sighed, sitting sidewise on a corner of the table.
The robot hesitated, made one or two false starts in different directions, then halted. The situation had apparently not
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A somewhat light-hearted tale of Earth's future when robots are ubiquitous and the human population is greatly diminished. The character actions and attitudes are on the verge of unbelievable, but it makes for a fairly interesting read nonetheless. Too bad the author made this such a short story. With a little more length, and a little less outlandish characterizations we could have had a pretty good tale.
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As humans abandoned Earth for other planets, the people who stayed behind became more and more isolated, with every need taken care of by robots. They communicated by TV (Skype) and never met. But after 20 years, Robert decided to meet his neighbor.
Robert is a three year old in an adult body, and his girlfriend is not much better. It's amusing when they try to share her sandbox.
Robert is a three year old in an adult body, and his girlfriend is not much better. It's amusing when they try to share her sandbox.
01/22/2014
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