Slave to the Slave
Tripp stumbled into the Robot Shoppe and picked up an electronic servant named JACK. This was so he and his family could live the luxurious and leisurely lifestyle.
Now JACK did many things, but significant maintenance was required. First, Tripp had to pay a monthly fee to the Robot Shoppe. This was to guarantee that JACK would receive proper maintenance and do what he was supposed to do. Second, Tripp had to carefully lubricate all of JACK’s parts at least two or three times daily. Often times, he lubricated them more than that. Third, the Robot Shoppe’s contract implied that random maintenance requests dictated by JACK’s programming must be dealt with immediately—regardless of the time of day. These and many other things caused Tripp to spend far too much time with JACK.
Tripp’s wife and family took offense. They wanted to spend more time with Tripp, but it seemed as if he was always catering to that electronic servant. Finally, Tripp’s wife gave him an ultimatum. She said, “Either you spend less time with that stupid robot, or I’m taking the kids and moving out!”
But Tripp replied, “I must take care of JACK first! Can’t you see it is because of JACK that we are able to live this luxurious and leisurely lifestyle?”