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"Marty" the robot, hard at work at the Stop & Shop. |
Another geezer and I happened to walk together into the Stop & Shop at Watchung Square a few days ago.
We exchanged pleasantries on the way in, where I picked up a package and was perusing the label (haven't we ALL become label readers?) and he stopped to look at the fruit specials at the table near the entrance.
Deeply engrossed in my label-reading, I became aware of a clicking sound. The other gent and I looked up at the same time -- and were surprised to see a the robot pictured above creeping along near us. The clicking sound had come from the robot. It's name is "Marty".
He had seen "Marty" before, I had not.
"Marty" clicks and whirs, then advances a short distance, stops, clicks and whirs again, then advances in a slightly different direction a little bit more.
When it gets a certain distance from a bin or a customer or a shelf, it corrects itself and starts off in a slightly different direction.
Eventually, "Marty" covers the entire store. But what is "he" looking for?
There is a small label affixed to "his" front that says he is for customer safety, but it took a clerk to explain to me that "he" is supposed to spot spills and the occasionally dropped box or other item in the aisles.
"Marty" never gets tired, never gets distracted and does not need a bathroom break -- ever.
Smart idea?
Does this mean anyone has lost a job?
I don't know, but when I mentioned "Marty" to the cashier on the way out, she rolled her eyes and said, "What a pain!"
Her complaint was that "Marty" is programmed to be too sensitive and blasts "his" news and the location out over the public PA system whenever something is spotted, which in her opinion is entirely too often.
"They need to dial 'it' back", she said, banging the register shut.
As I left, "Marty" was just starting down another aisle, weaving between shoppers' carts and the shelves. The future is upon us.
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