(Continued from March 03, 2010)
Alphonse totally rose to the occasion. He managed to make the cork fly and pour the foaming liquid into my glass, without spilling a drop, while keeping an eye on the robot. A great example of multitasking!
“One always feels good when a hunch comes true,” Aunt Dorothy exclaimed. “When I saw Alphonse’s strong hands, I thought that cork is not going to misbehave. Then, during the wire removal, at no time was the cork pointed at his face, or at anybody else’s.”
After he had also filled aunt Dorothy’s glass, Alphonse started to walk to the right, where there was a large picnic table. Temporarily placing the bottle at the far end of the table, he handily took the young server’s heavy load and put it in the center of the marble surface. He had undoubtedly convinced the ladies that the weight of the enormous platter had been his only concern. I knew that there was an additional one.
The robot had gone around the Mini to the back bumper, which was not visible from where we had stood. My young friend did not want to miss any detail of the robot’s handiwork. He continued to fill the glasses at the far end of the table, from where he would, at the same time, be able to watch the device’s antics. Alphonse’s exceptional adroitness showed that he still possessed certain skills, acquired during his college years. He had been a waiter in an upper-class neighborhood pub.
The robot’s arms moved very slowly, possibly due to the guard’s extreme caution or his lack of practice. The forceps of the contraption’s left arm had retrieved a knife from a breast pocket. After its minutes-long journey toward the dangling bag, the glittering blade came to a halt within centimeters of the bag’s string; and, immediately, the right arm began to move toward the attachment. It stopped under the bag and spread the prongs of its forceps. Seconds later, a small roll of wire mesh popped from the arm and unfolded across the prongs. Then, very slowly, the shallow sieve-like container moved upward.
Because of the considerable distance, the Champaign-drinking folks could not perceive that there was a fraction of a centimeter space between the right arm’s “safety net” and the bottom of the bag. The guard, who was at least as far away, had not experienced any difficulty in achieving that very slight space.
The man was equipped with a special set of goggles; an electrical cord connected it to the remote. As the mesh was approaching the suspended bag’s bottom, a decreasing series of numbers appeared on a small screen within the goggles. The guard decided that two millimeters would assure a gentle drop.
(To be continued)