“He’s not enslaved”: Maya Higa explains why she runs Henry the Roomba “all the time”

Twitch streamer Maya Higa brought a homely friend to her recent livestream, where she explained to thousands over Just Chatting that she treats her Roomba normally. The comments section almost instantly lit up over her statement that her Roomba wasn't a slave.

"He's not enslaved, he just really really loves cleaning."

However, the situation is easy to misunderstand for those who don't see Roombas as living beings with feelings. Maya's decision to go onto her stream and introduce her fans to Henry the Roomba raised a few eyebrows, to say the least.

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Maya Higa defends her round-the-clock Roomba over Just Chatting

Maya seems to treat her Roomba as a pet/living creature by placing googly eyes and a Christmas tree hat on top of it. While it's a machine, she clearly has some sort of sentimental attachment to it.

When she introduced Henry to the viewers, the chat section sparked with claims that Maya was using it as a slave. Her response was to give a formal explanation to cover up any accusation about owning it as a cleaning slave.

Maya said:

"That's all he loves doing, so when he's not turned on, he's lifeless."

Maya went on to state that the Roomba only has one function - to clean - and that it makes her feel better about leaving it on all day long. She said she chooses not to feel bad about leaving Henry running and gives the benefit of the doubt to the fact that it loves to clean.

She added:

"So instead of feeling bad about running him ever because it felt like slavery, I run him all the time, and he's happy."

Personifying the Roomba seems to give Maya comfort in using one, and the fans played along with the running joke, stating how there should be a charity fundraiser for a Roomba sanctuary and that she runs a Roomba prison.

The lighthearted comments brought out Maya's defensive side as she continued to defend her cleaning friend.