I spent $250 on a robot vacuum and it's making me think about my old job

I bought this little round robot a few months back, mostly because I got tired of sweeping the kitchen floor every night. It does a decent job, honestly, and I don't miss that chore. But the other day, I was watching it bump into the table leg for the third time, trying to figure its way out, and I just got this weird feeling. I used to work on a factory line putting together small engine parts, a job that's basically gone now because of machines. I was doing a task just as simple and repetitive as sweeping my floor. It saved me $250 and some time, but it also kinda feels like I paid for the thing that took my old career. Anyone else get a weird vibe from the stuff that's supposed to make life easier?

3 comments

3 Comments

brianreed2mo ago

Man, that's a real gut punch of a thought.

jakeb812mo ago

Yeah, that "gut punch" feeling happens a lot now. You see it with stuff like parking meters or checkout lines, where a person's job just quietly becomes an app or a kiosk. It's not one big news story, just a bunch of small changes that add up to a different world.

the_wendy2mo ago

My old job was quality control for those little plastic tabs on bread bags. I'm pretty sure a machine does that now too, so I guess I'm safe from my toaster plotting my downfall.