Robots For Lunch

So you are thinking, did Peter and I eat robots and was the taste metallic? Or did we take robots out for lunch because we wanted a change from all that talking with family over the holidays? Well neither, actually….

Peter and I have seen how many toys our grandkids get for Christmas and it is a LOT. So we try to do something different if we can, by providing an experience instead. We got the idea from our son Daniel who took us all to Ripley’s Aquarium the year it opened. And it was a big success. A year later we took the kids to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and last year we took everybody to see Little Canada.

This year we chose a restaurant that serves all-you-can-eat sushi, a delicacy that our “internationally-trained” grandkids love. Their grandparents on the other side of the family come from around the world and the families love tasting international cuisine. Sushi is no stranger to them. But the main reason we chose this place is because robots serve the food! A cut little robotic figure with sweet little cat ears, blinking eyes, and a squeaky voice, rolls up beside your table and says “Please take your order from the tray below. ” And then, as it rolls back towards the kitchen, it politely adds “Thank you!”

At our table for 12, each group of 6 had a tablet for ordering food. The portions are small and patrons can order as much as they want. Just click on your choices and then submit. Usually it is most efficient for one person from each group to take charge of the tablet while others shout out their preferences. But sometimes it’s hard to keep track, especially with 2 groups. While you wait for the robots to begin serving the food, there is a soup-salad bar to keep you from starving- starvation being a state where all the grandchildren seem to perpetually reside.

Table For 12

After we had filled up on wonton soup and seaweed salad, the food began to arrive at the table: servings of salmon rolls, chicken teriyaki, shrimp tempura, vegetable fried rice, beef BBQ ribs. But NO robots! Instead, human waiters were scurrying from the kitchen with trays and trays of food. Peter rushed over to one of them and queried: “No offence, but we wanted Robot waiters!”

Meanwhile the food kept coming and coming. It was like an I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel are working in a candy factory sorting chocolates into boxes, when the conveyor belt accidentally speeds up and they are forced to stuff extra chocolates into the boxes, and then into their pockets, their bras and their mouths. As we frantically stuffed sushi into every available space, we could see that, over on the side, the robots were being programmed to bring us even more food! Then one of the adults read a message on the tablet: Order as much as you want, but be prepared to pay $1 for each piece of sushi that you leave behind uneaten. Oops…

Distraught with worry over a bill for thousands, Peter rushed over to the waiter again, this time yelling “STOP! No More Food!” The waiter calmly explained that, for some reason, the robots were misbehaving – refusing to take orders – going on strike, technically speaking. The room became quiet as the food stopped coming. Everybody heaved a sigh of relief. We all sat quietly, digesting our food and this new information.

Then one of the grandkids noticed something. “Look over there,” he whooped. “a dessert bar!”

Sue

Robot and waiter in employment negotiations