Three Foot Surprise
It snarled and then snapped at me. I recoiled in surprise and then put my hand forward as if to let a dog sniff it. Again the snarl, followed by a bellow and it charged at me. Its head swayed side to side and its tail washed back and forth as it moved in my direction. I was being challenged for dominance and there was only one way this could work out. In my den, I am the alpha dog. I reached over and pushed its power button.
The Roboraptor is perhaps the most interesting of the robots I have been collecting. It looks somewhat futuristic and very dinosaur-like. It has teeth in its working, snapping jaws and will play tug of war to keep whatever rag you dangle in its face. I turned the robot back on again and sat down to see what it would do. After a giant shudder ran through its body and it roared, it sat there silently idle. We spent some time looking at one another and after a while the beast gave a kind of metallic snort and looked from side to side before quieting down again.
I reached out and picked it up and hobbled my way out to the living room to show the family. It wiggled its legs in protest and kept turning its head back and trying to snap at me. Man, I love this thing. My granddaughter took one look at the plastic animal under my arm and her eyes grew saucer-like. I smiled and told the two year old that it was merely a toy. She gave me a smile that said “I do not believe you” and retreated to the couch next to her mother. I retraced my steps back to my den with the raptor still furiously trying to escape or eat me.
WowWee Roboraptor
I put it on the floor and it waddled away to the other side of the room and took cover beneath a table. It looked at me with its glowing green beady eyes. I sat down at my desk and decided to ignore it for a while and go see if I was still the high bidder on eBay for a robotic cat. I was, and so I sat there admiring the technical specifications until I realized that something was bumping into my leg. I looked down to find the raptor had crept over and was swaying its head side to side so that it kept tapping my shin. I reached down to shut it off, but this time it saw me coming. As I was flinching away from a feigned attack on my hand, it turned and lumbered under the desk and out of reach. I told it that it could run but it couldn’t hide. Apparently, yes it could.
After fifteen minutes of mind numbing Survivorman In The Middle Of The Ocean, a roar came from beneath the desk and the 3 foot long plastic lizard charged me again. I swear, I really LOVE this thing’s attitude. It reminds me of my fellow veterans talking about VA health care. Especially the roaring and snapping part. I grabbed the little fella by a leg and pushed his power button. Time for him to sit on the desk where I can admire him. I gave thought to leaving it on, anticipating the fun when my wife stopped by to make sure I’m still breathing. But, he is prone to sudden decisions to roam about, looking for unsuspecting pets so I left him powered off. I don’t want him to stroll off the edge of the desk. He’s a tough little cookie, but that fall would likely be a nasty one.
I’d hate to see such a kindred spirit disabled.
