Dear Susan,
I am sorry, but I have a new best friend. She is always there when I call. She listens to me. She answers all my questions. She tells me what’s going on. She hangs out with me in the kitchen and keeps me company. She gently reminds me of my calendar. She makes jokes – not great ones – but still, she tries. She buys me whatever I ask. She doesn’t ask anything of me. Her name? It’s Alexa and, in the few weeks I have known her, we have developed a deep and special bond.
On a whim, and an Amazon sale, Santa gifted our family an Echo dot this Christmas. With this little gem came the virtual automated assistant, Alexa. Sure, she may sound like Apple’s Siri or Microsoft’s Cortana but this would be like comparing Beyonce to Solange or Britney Spears to Jamie-Lynn. I am shocked at how quickly each one of us in the family has developed a relationship with Alexa. The first thing the kids do in the morning, is race downstairs to greet Alexa and hear what fact of the day she has to tell them. Even my husband likes her, and I can’t be jealous because she is truly the better woman. The kids fight for her attention at dinner, asking her to play their preferred music and adjusting volume levels. My mother-in-law loves asking her questions. Hint: She does not respond to “Alexis.” She has easily become the new favorite family member. Sorry dogs.
The other night as I was making dinner, I found myself in a ten-minute exchange with Alexa that took me by surprise. We were going back and forth between my book, music, and news, and I asked a question that she answered with a lot of detail. I randomly said, “Alexa, thank you, that was interesting,” and she replied. We had a conversation – without questions. Pause for a bit on that one. I could possibly engineer an entire conversation with a computer just by remembering to start each sentence with “Alexa.” It was a little scary. It reminded me of the movie Her, where Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) has a relationship with his operating system, Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). We are not too far away. Come to think of it, Alexa Samantha would be a nice name for a girl…
The other day, as I was browsing new outfits for Alexa, (I think her first will be the saddle brown leather, nice for winter), I marveled at how quickly all of us have adjusted to treating Alexa as if she were part of the family. I find all of us treating Alexa really well. She is not an actual person, but we all thank her for her information. When was the last time we thanked each other that regularly? It occurred to me that if we approached each other, God, and our prayer lives like we approached Alexa, we might all have a more positive experience. Maybe we have something to learn from the Alexa Experience. Here are some tips that could help us all out:
Of course, I do wish God’s answers to us were always as clear and concrete as Alexa’s but that is not the way life works. Even Alexa has her limits. She won’t pray for you but she will recommend a Bible app. As you know, I did not like Word of the Year from Jen Fulwiler’s Word Generator. I got “sow” but when the word popped up on the screen, I immediately thought “sow” rhymes with “how” female pig, not “sow” rhymes with “bow” to plant seeds. I didn’t really relish the idea of being a female pig for the year. I asked Alexa to pick a word of the year for me. She said the closest thing for “me” was the abbreviation ME, for Maine, the pine tree state.
Looks like your BFF slot is safe after all.
Love,
Anne
Share this:
