Where's My Rosie?

I grew up watching reruns of The Jetsons. I was under the impression that by the time I was a grown-up, I would be zipping around in a flying car and have a robotic maid. Her name would obviously be Rosie, just out of respect. I imagined I would be showered and dressed by a robotic conveyor belt. My food would be in capsule form and my home would be high in the sky.

 

Imagine my surprise, that in 2011, I am still driving a car on wheels, my house is made of wood and planted firmly on the ground, and there's no maid here. I feel like I was set up for the letdown of the century by Hanna-Barbera.

Now, we all heard our grandparents and parents spouting off about the hardships of their youth. There's the classic walking uphill both ways to school in snow up to their waists. They were human remote controls, used outdoor toilets, had phones with cords, and were forced to watch low quality VHS movies. At least there have been some advancements in technology, with our fancy indoor plumping, wireless remote controls, and mobile phones.

But, it's still not enough for me. Here are some things that I think should have been invented by now:

1. A washer that either washes and dries or can transfer the clothes to the dryer and turn the dryer on. Is that too much to ask? I think not.

2. A dishwasher that can load and unload the dishes. I think that there would be a robotic arm that would extend out of the dishwasher to reach in the sink to retrieve the dirty dishes. After the dishes are dry, the arm would then put the dishes in their places.

3. Some sort of device that folds clean clothes and puts them away. Then maybe I would have an empty laundry basket to put the dirty clothes in.

4. Gas pumps that pump your gas for you. Living in Wisconsin and having only three months where it is actually warm out, I despise putting gas in. It's painful.

5. The talking dog. Astro could reason. He had logic. And instead of barking, he could calmly say, "Relroy, rease ret re routside." There could be some improvements to the enunciation. But, let's face it, the poor speech would be a vast improvement to the incessant barking.

6.  Biodegradable bags that don't wake up the neighborhood.

7.  A self-cleaning toilet. If you have ever lived with a boy/man, you understand.

8. An indestructible car. Come on NASA. You can send a man to the moon but we can't make a car that doesn't fold upon impact? You can do it. Yes, you can!

9. Grass that doesn't grow but that is still real grass. I hope there's somewhere just thinking up how to make a variety of grass that doesn't grow taller than 2 inches. I do love the smell of fresh cut grass but I could forgo that to lose the clippings.

In 2011, it seems like these are viable requests. Well, most of them are at least. Some are pipe dreams but I dream big. We can rent movies through our remote, fly across the country in a day, and shop in the comfort of our own homes, but we still have to switch our laundry. It's insanity. It's unjust. We live in the land of the free and I am not free from my washing machine!

I hope that these are realities for my grandchildren so I can say, "Back when I was your age, I had to go to the washing machine and PUT the laundry in the dryer! Can you believe that?!? I also had to fold it AND put it away!"