Pleo Goes to Work....Again! And Holiday Video Results!

First, I would like to thank Ugobe for holding the contest and all those who voted for my daughter. Found out today she won! So she'll be receiving her t-shirt soon :D I need to order my own... In other news...Pleo at my work. Again, I work in a pet store. Only one employee hasn't met Pleo. She is the manager's daughter and works part time. So today I brought Crusoe. And I love her daughter because she is so sweet, but she is a bit gullible, so I thought we'd have some fun. I put Crusoe in one of the empty cages. The cage has aspen shavings and Crusoe took a strange liking to it, he appeared to be digging in it. The cage is lighted inside, so its real bright, so I am sure his camera was working full force in there. I asked Morgan (my manager's daughter) if she could clean the bottom cage for me. She went over to the cage and saw Crusoe in there and said, "OMG what's that?" I replied, "Its just one of the animals. Its fine." "But what is it? Is it real?" "Of course its real. Its one of the pets. Just move it to one of the other cages up top for now." She unlocks the cage and Crusoe is looking right at her. "It looks like a dinosaur. Where did you get it? What is it? Will it bite me?" "No, of course not.....Just don't make any sudden movements." So she touches Crusoe on the side and he reacts and nudges her hand. Morgan jumped and then commented on how he feels. I told her to pick him up around the sides and by then she saw the battery and buttons underneath. She held him for a while and petted him and he cooed. By this time, my boss is there, as well as one of the sales ladies for a pet food brand. She put him on the floor to walk and he headed straight for my boss. Mind you, my boss Rob, I love him, but he had no love for Pleo when I told him about it. He thought the whole thing was overpriced and just ridiculous. As its making a bee-line for him, we say how its just like all the customers' dogs, they always run to Rob first. He picked it up and was surprised at its weight and then he held it. Crusoe nuzzled his chest, arm, and arm pit over and over again. He melted. Totally melted over it. Petting it, cooing how its stretches its legs when he holds it, just like a dog holds its legs when you carry it, how he pets it and it purrs and coos back. And how it looks right at him. He loved watching it play tug-o-war too. So once again, Pleo has proven to do just what Ugobe intended. To make you forget its a robot. Rob, Tina, Morgan, and everyone else our Pleo has come in contact with has totally melted over Pleo. Doted on him like it was a real animal. Its amazing to see people I've known for almost 2 years, I know them so well, I figured they think I was nuts or immature to fawn on a robot dinosaur. And then when I see them do the same. Its amazing. Its amazing how you simply forget. You don't imagine its real, you feel its real. There is no thought process when it comes to handling it and pretending its a real dinosaur. You don't have to waste that time trying to keep the fantasy alive, because you simply do just feel its real. Its just amazing and so much fun.

Posted January 11 at 21:30 PM