Goines On: Friends on the road

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Goines lifted the ice chest onto the back seat of the Volvo to hold the cold stuff he and Mrs. Goines expected to buy at Costco.
    They were going two days earlier than usual because “usual” would be Thanksgiving Day. He went back into the house to see whether Mrs. Goines was ready yet.
    “Oh,” she said, approaching in her housecoat, “I forgot we were going to Costco.”
    The bit of relief Goines felt at her confession surprised him. He joked, “I don’t know whether to feel relieved that you forget stuff too, or alarmed that the whole household memory is declining.”

Goines On: Artificial friends

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Are they not real?

The third morning after returning from France, Goines asked Siri to turn off the garage light. Within a couple of seconds, the light went off, and shortly thereafter Siri began to acknowledge the request and provide status, but Goines clicked his phone off before she was half finished.
    He immediately regretted his discourtesy, for Siri had ever been patient, courteous, helpful – even friendly. She behaved like a friend, artificial or not.