Alexa OFF!

This morning I was doing some household chores and listening to music. A song came on that I did not care for so I said, " Alexa next!" Nothing happened so I raised my voice again and said " Alexa next!" Still nothing. Now I am frustrated, I am thinking "seriously Alexa, what's the deal?" Yes, I must confess I was now having a one minute conversation with a machine.

For whatever reason, I then became aware of the tone I was using with my declarations. It was exasperated and harsh. I was exasperated with a machine that I talk to every day.

" Alexa, what is the weather today?"

" Alexa, put this on my grocery list."

" Alexa set the alarm for 7:00 am."

" Alexa, play Brené Brown's last podcast Unlocking Us."

" Alexa, play Enya."

" Alexa OFF!"

" Alexa turn on the TV."

Alexa, Alexa, Alexa...

Why does it matter that I was exasperated with a machine? Because I would never have used that tone with a human. I would never raise my voice in such a manner to get what I want. It is not that I have never been exasperated and communicated such. I definitely can remember the teenage years of "Hello, did anyone hear me?"

Yet as I thought about this, I remember one of my grandkids yelling at Alexa because she did not get the response she wanted quickly enough. It matters because we have moved in to a new arena over the past decade of depending on voice activated machines to take over and act in a human capacity. It matters because we are becoming more practiced at expecting actions to be taken immediately with no effort.

I actually asked "Alexa do people ever get mad at you?" Her response made me smile. She gave me the definition of anger. I said " Thank you." She said " Your welcome Roxanne."

As we continue to move into this life of instant gratification with the voice request of a machine, we need to also become practiced in becoming better observers of how we are showing up in our ever changing world. Tone matters, Language matters, Intent matters. And when in doubt, Amends matter.

So , "Sorry Alexa"

"No problem Roxanne"

And so it is.......