SHE DECLARED WAR ON A ROBOT. THE ROBOT WON.
There's a new front in the war between humans and machines, and it opened last Wednesday on a sidewalk in Philadelphia.
Her name is Carolyn Marvin. She's elderly. And she has decided that delivery robots are the enemy.
It started the way these things always start — with a small, boxy Uber Eats robot rolling down the sidewalk, minding its own business, carrying somebody's lunch. And then Carolyn stepped into its path. And wouldn't move.
The robot, being a robot, tried to go around her. She moved with it. It tried the other way. She was there too. Back and forth, this little machine trying to do its job, and Carolyn standing her ground like it was the Alamo.
Officers showed up and told her to move. She ignored them. They told her again. She stayed put. So they arrested her — disorderly conduct, for blocking a robot.
And here's the part that makes this story: Carolyn says she'd do it again. She told reporters she ALWAYS blocks the delivery robots. It's not an accident, it's a protest. She believes the robots are replacing human workers, and she's decided somebody needs to stand up to them — literally, physically, with her body, in front of a six-wheeled lunchbox.
She calls it "protected speech."
One bystander during the standoff thought the robot had hit her and rushed over to ask if she was okay. Carolyn's response: she was fine, she was doing her part, because robots like these are taking over the world.
You have to respect the commitment, honestly. Most people grumble about technology and keep walking. Carolyn looked at a food delivery robot and said "not on my sidewalk." She took a disorderly conduct charge for the cause. She is all in.
The robot, for the record, has not commented.
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