A Real Estonian (Estonia, Germany)
Germany had met up with Estonia at the other nation's place in Tallinn for a talk about business relations and technology. He was particularly interested in how Estonia's e-governance systems worked, so Estonia needed more time to explain this than estimated.
"I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry," Estonia said after a while. "Should we order some food at a restaurant and have it delivered here? That way, we could save time and maybe continue our talks while we're eating."
"That sounds brilliant!" It was the idea of saving time in particular that appealed to Germany.
After deciding on their meals on the restaurant's website, accessed through Estonia's tablet computer, Estonia finally placed an order. He paid their food online. Some minutes passed in which they continued their talks. Then, Estonia received a message informing him that his order had arrived.
"Would you accompany me to the door?" Estonia said. Germany didn't understand why Estonia didn't just deal with the delivery man on his own, but he complied.
That was until he actually saw how their meals had been delivered.
There was no delivery man. There was a robot. A tiny robot that looked like a suitcase on four wheels, with a compartment like that of a vacuum cleaner that had their food in it.
"I'm impressed," Germany said in all honesty. "But … uh, sorry to bring this up, but don't you think robots like these will take over people's jobs?"
"No, I don't think so," Estonia replied. "People are ordering more and more things online. There's enough room in the market for humans and robots alike. And besides, this is Estonia. A real Estonian always has to have the latest technology of the world. That's what I wanted to show you."
Notes:
Based on a report about delivery robots in Estonia in the German TV news magazine "heute journal" (ZDF), 5 January 2017. The sentence "A real Estonian always has to have the latest technology of the world" is a direct quote from an Estonian man in that report.