Alexa is the next target of our quarantine angst

We’re all starting to lose it a little bit.

Photo: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Alexa is the next target of our quarantine angst

We all have our ways to cope with stress. Some of us pump iron. Some go to therapy. And some… hurl obscenities at the voice-powered assistant perched innocently on the kitchen counter.

Let’s be honest: We’ve reached the phase of the pandemic when even the most patient among us are starting to lose it. And there’s nothing like a noncompliant robot to make us finally snap. 

The Alexa bullies swear they’re nice people

“I’m not a bad person,” one woman, Angela Hatem, told the Washington Post. “I say things to Alexa that I wouldn’t say to my worst enemy, if I had one… I curse at her. I call her names. I’m very, very mean to her.”

A quick rundown of some of Alexa’s offenses, as outlined by her harassers:

  • Not turning on the light when asked.
  • Failing to pair with a home security system.
  • Mistakenly reading Joe Scarborough’s Wikipedia page every morning when begged to turn on “Morning Joe.” 

“You just want one thing to do its job, and this is a robot,” Hatem said. “Just do the thing you were brought here to do and do it on the first take.”

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