Name the Droid
Yes, it’s a robot.
It has an important job. It disinfects all things nasty at Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital in Lebanon NH, and APD has decided that the robot should have a suitable moniker. You can help to give it one.
According to APD’s press release:
There are lots of UV disinfecting products out there, but this robot is different. It's the most powerful UV robot in the world. Also, it’s just really cool tech and it makes our Environmental Services team proud that APD embraces innovation.
And it needs a name!
For $2.50, which goes to the hospital’s annual fund, you can choose from among a slate of a dozen names, including Anne Droid, Honey Crisp, and The Zappah. Click here for the list. Voting began on February 1 and will continue until March 31 at noon. The winner will be announced on April 7.
How weird is this? Not so weird. Remember that Upper Valley schools kids recently named Vermont’s snowplows. Even more interesting, I went in search of what I thought would turn out to be an obscure article that lingered on the edge of my memory about people naming their Roombas. Hours later I had fallen down the rabbit hole of umpteen Google search results about “naming Roombas.” (Try Googling it yourself.) There are lists galore and even articles explaining why people like to name inanimate objects. (People really do love their Roombas.)
Among the most popular Roomba handles? Rosie, of The Jetsons fame; R2D2, the cuddly droid from Star Wars; and Jeeves, the Britishism synonymous with valet or butler, or for the same reasons but different era, Carson, from Downton Abbey. And because it’s just too perfect, the groan-worthy Dustbin Bieber.
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.