Convenience Catch - II

Peter pumped a victorious fist into the air. He was even more excited about the robot than his parents were. "You won't regret it. Then, maybe if you like it enough...you can buy me one for my birthday?" Peter gave an enticing wink.

Jewel rolled her eyes dismissively. "I have a feeling this robot will be yours after a month. We won't need it once your father is back on his feet."

"Ah ah, not so fast. Let's give Kathy the Convenience Bot a fair trial. We might actually like this thing," Alfonse persuaded her, now intrigued. He turned to Peter. "Can Kathy order me food?"

"Of course. She'll even do minimal food prep. All she has to do is assess the contents of the fridge and whip up a simple recipe. Then, you'll be able to choose what she'll cook for you."

Alfonse clasped his hands together, pleased. "When does it arrive?"

"It should be here shortly," Peter said, opening up the tracking information on his phone's app. "I'll get Bill to come over here this afternoon to help set it up for you guys."

To Peter's surprise, the robot was easier to set up than expected. Within just a couple of hours of opening the product, Kathy was walking around the house and sweeping floors. Alfonse watched the slim, metallic bot from the couch as she swept a spot on the hardwood floor until it was spotless.

"Amazing," he mumbled in awe.

"It is truly impressive," Bill agreed with a curious nod. "Now, if you run into any issues, don't hesitate to give me a call. I own one of these things myself. They're pretty easy to adjust any settings or work out any bugs with."

"Thank you," said Alfonse with a smile full of gratitude.

"No problem. You just relax and let Kathy do the work for you," Bill said, turning to his toolbox and clasping it shut.

"Told you it was a smart idea," Peter boasted. "Bill and I are going out now. I'll close up shop tonight and come over here tomorrow after work to see how you're getting along with the robot."

"Okay, sounds good. Thank you, boys." Alfonse gave Bill and Peter a wave as they exited the front door. Once they were gone, Jewel walked into the living room and sat beside her husband. They both stared at Kathy as she now began dusting the fireplace mantel.

"I'm not sure how much I like this Kathy. I'm feeling kind of antsy. What am I supposed to do now?" Jewel asked.

Alfonse swung his arm around his wife's shoulders and clicked on the television with the remote. "Spend some quality time with your feeble husband?" he half-joked.

The best Jewel could do was give him a half-smile. "It's too early to watch television, though. I should be cooking."

"Never mind that," Alfonse insisted, waving his hands dismissively. He turned his attention to Kathy the Convenience Bot, clearing his throat as if he were about to speak to a higher authority. "Hey, Kathy? Could you make us some grilled asparagus, potatoes, and tempeh?"

"Of course," Kathy responded in an AI kind of tone. "How would you like the tempeh cooked? Fried, sauteed, or baked?"

"Hmm...baked in barbeque sauce, please?" Alfonse replied uncertainly.

"You've got it. I will prepare the tempeh barbeque-style and salt both the asparagus and potatoes for you. Anything to drink?"

"Water," replied Alfonse.

"No salt!" Jewel snapped. "You need to watch your blood pressure, Alfonse. I want to eliminate all risks of you having another heart attack."

"No salt, check!" confirmed the robot before walking away into the kitchen.

"This is perfect," said Alfonse, leaning back into the couch. "I can't believe

how handy she is."

"I guess," Jewel muttered under her breath, unconvinced.

"You're right, though. It is a little too early for television. Now that I don't have to worry about helping with dinner or any chores, maybe I'll get to work on some marketing material for the shop. I never have free time to do that. Would you mind fetching the laptop for me, dear?"

Although she wasn't too keen on having Alfonse work while he was supposed to be resting, she did want an excuse to stand up from the couch.

"I guess I can do that." Just as she stood up, Kathy walked into the room and handed Alfonse his laptop.

"Here's your laptop, sir. I overheard you mention the command from the kitchen and located a laptop in the main dining room area," it said monotonously.

"Oh, well...what a pleasant surprise," Alfonse said, taken aback. He glanced up at his wife, who wore an irritated expression. Her arms were crossed over her chest coldly. "Looks like you can sit right back down and enjoy a good book or something."

Jewel let out a long, aggravated sigh and sat back down on the sunken couch. "No, I'll watch some TV. It's fine."

"I think I'm going to go into the shop today," Alfonse announced, seizing a plateful of toast and eggs from Kathy's robotic hands. He took a nibble of the toast and followed it up with a cooling breath onto the eggs before shoving a big forkful into his mouth. After a few bites, his expression

softened. "These are delicious. You'll never have to cook again, hun. Kathy

cooked perfectly once again."

"I don't know if I like that idea," said Jewel, beckoning for him to take a

seat at the kitchen table across from her.

"Not having to cook again? Or me going into the shop?"

"Both!" Jewel burst out, red in the face.

It was only a little over a week since getting Kathy, and already Jewel felt lazy and useless. "I like cooking for you, and you shouldn't be doing work in your condition right now."

"Oh, lighten up. Would it really be all that bad if you didn't have to cook or clean again?" asked Alfonse, trying to draw the attention away from himself.

"Yes, it would," Jewel responded bluntly. "Cooking and cleaning give me purpose. The chores almost give me a sense of zen, too. There's something about being creative with cooking and the satisfaction of cleaning that gives me the drive to keep going every day. Plus, most of the food Kathy provides us with is either ordered or cooked with a standard recipe. I like experimenting off the recipe card. That's what makes it fun and gives the food an extra ZING."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, dear," said Alfonse, leaning over the table to kiss her on the forehead. "You know, we can reprogram Kathy so she doesn't do so much cooking. If that's what you want, that is."

"That's exactly what I want," Jewel hissed in disbelief.

"Okay then, I'll ask Bill to come over and adjust the settings. Problem solved." Alfonse dabbed the corners of his mouth with a napkin and stood up slowly. He grabbed the cane, which rested upon the edge of the table, and walked unsteadily over to the front door.

"I can't believe you're still going into the shop," Jewel muttered. "Are you feeling up to it?"

Alfonse shrugged. "It's been over a week. I'll be fine."

"You didn't answer the question." Jewel locked eyes with him sternly, giving him a shrewd glare.

"I'm feeling up to it," he confirmed, tearing his gaze away from her and turning to let himself out. There was no doubt he was feeling up to it. He'd been itching to get out of the house since he'd left the hospital. Whether he actually felt good? Now that question he wasn't one-hundred percent confident in answering. There was still a bit of tension pulling at the pit of his chest. Already, walking out to the car was making him breathless.

When Peter saw Alfonse pull into the car garage, he couldn't decide whether he was shocked or angry. "Dad?!" What are you doing here?" he called out, marching over to the car's driver's side. "Are you even supposed to be driving?"

"It's nice to see you too, son," Alfonse responded sarcastically. He stepped carefully out of the car, making sure not to show the slightest sign of shakiness. "I just need to check on some inventories."

"But what am I supposed to do? The robot...well...makes it easier for me to get other, more important stuff done rather than less important stuff, like chores."

"Housework may be inconvenient, but at least it gives you a chance to take a breather from the real, stressful work. Perhaps instead of having the robot help you with chores, you can use it for the good of your health. Why not have the robot remind you to exercise, monitor your blood pressure, or calculate the nutritional value of foods?" Dr. Lopez suggested. Alfonse hadn't thought of it like that. Though it didn't help, he still didn't like doing chores.

"But it's so...convenient. Plus, I thought you didn't want me doing exercise that would aggravate me anyways," Alfonse retorted.

"A little light movement is okay. Chores are a great way to get some steps in without overexerting yourself. You must give your body a movement break, as well as your brain a work break. Without boredom, we don't allow our brains to rest."

Alfonse pondered over what Dr. Lopez had said for a few moments, then finally nodded in accord. "I guess you make a valid point. Even though I'm moving throughout the day during work, it's still always on my mind.Maybe you're right. I should slow down."

"You only get one body," Dr. Lopez pointed out. "Treat it nicely, and it will reward you with a healthy life."

"I'm home," called out Alfonse as he shuffled through the front door.

Jewel peered warily from the end of the foyer. Rather than admonishing him, as Alfonse had anticipated, her indifferent expression turned to concern.

"Are you okay? You look flushed."

"He had to go to the doctor," Peter announced from behind Alfonse,

helping his dad into a kitchen chair.

Jewel put her hands to her mouth. "Oh no, it's not—"

"No, it wasn't," Alfonse interrupted, bowing his head to the ground in

embarrassment.

"But it could've been," Peter reminded him. He put his arms on his hips as if he were reprimanding a child. "Do you want to tell Mom what happened?"

Alfonse let out a long, defeated sigh before owning up to his mistake. "It turns out you two were right. You both told me I was working too hard, and I was. Kathy the Convenience Bot was meant to make it easier for me, but instead, it just made me want to work harder. I owe you both an apology."

"Why thank you," said Jewel, acknowledging the apology with a nod.

"I know it's not easy, but I'm really going to make an effort to slow down at work and take on other tasks, like chores, to give my mind a break,"

Alfonse reassured her.

"First things first, we need to tweak some of Kathy's settings," Peter said, making his way over to the robot. Just as Kathy placed another clean dish into the cupboards, he flicked her OFF switch.

"Good, I never liked that thing," Jewel said, flashing a vengeful grin at the hunk of titanium. "Ever since we got her, I've been so anxious and depressed. Not knowing what to do with my time."

"Well, this adjustment will solve both your problems," Peter explained.

"While we were at Dr. Lopez's office, she made a great suggestion. Rather than programming the robot to do tasks around the house for you, I'm going to turn off that feature and have her only monitor health-related things, such as reminding you to get up and move, do chores, and track your calories and nutrition."

"Wow, she can do all of those things?" Jewel asked in surprise.

"Yeah, many people don't realize that she has a health setting. When people think of it, they think of making their lives easier. But truth be told, sometimes too much of a good thing can be detrimental."

"I can definitely see that," Jewel agreed. "Kathy took away my purpose in

this house."

"And I saw it as an opportunity to get more work done rather than relax,"

Alfonse added.

"Exactly," Peter agreed, tapping his finger on the glass screen of Kathy's control panel. Once he was finished updating her settings, he turned to his parents and smiled. "There you go. She's all set. On second thought, I think maybe I don't want one of these robots as a gift. I'd rather take a five-minute break to do dishes than five minutes more of working at the shop."

The three shared heartfelt laughter. Jewel made her way to the fridge and scanned over the contents. "What do you say we celebrate with a nice stir-fry dinner?"

"For a standard tofu stir-fry, mixed with the snow peas, carrots, and bean sprouts I see located in your fridge, there should be approximately four hundred calories for a serving of three," Kathy suddenly cut in. A pleased grin spread across Jewel's face when she didn't hear Kathy offering to cook it.

"Thanks, Kathy," Jewel replied as she bent over to retrieve the ingredients from the fridge—manually.