By Nancy B
You may have read about Shirley Mae Roomba and her cousin, Erma Sue Shark, our two robot vacuum cleaners. Shirley Mae keeps the upstairs floors cleaned. and Erma Sue is the downstairs sweeper. They are both doing well, even though we did have a little incident the other day.
I had asked Erma Sue if she would mind cleaning the carpets downstairs again, and being as sweet as she could be, she said certainly. I was up and down the
stairs doing laundry and couldn’t help but notice how happy she was, running around, nudging furniture, rearranging the bath-mats and humming the entire time. I didn’t recognize the song, but I found myself humming the catchy tune as well.
Then silence.
I walked in the room where she puts herself to bed when she finishes her work, but she wasn’t there.
“Erma Sue, Erma Sue,” I called “Where are you?”
She wasn’t under any of the beds, she wasn’t in the utility room nor the storage room.
“Erma Sue? Are you okay? Oh, there you are.”
She had gone under my mother’s very old rocking chair and was trapped.
“Let me help you, oh poor baby, I’m sure it’s my fault, I’m so sorry.”
As you may know Shirley Mae and Erma Sue are usually great at getting out of tight spots by going forwards and backwards until they’re free, but this time, Erma Sue was stuck like glue. Her body is the same width as the space under the chair, and try as she might, there was no escape.
I seem to frustrate the cousins on occasion and once again I was given the cold shoulder for a day.
If any of you know Ms. Roomba or Ms. Shark or any of their cousins, please tell me how to stay on the “good side” of the girls. I’m open to suggestions.