Woman Can't Find Her Roomba for Two Days, Later Learns It Was Out Roaming the Streets
Updated Nov. 21 2023, 6:05 p.m. ET
One commercial from the 2000s that I have engrained in my memory is no other than the Swiffer WetJet commercial. Who else has seen this heartbreaking tale where the standard household mop has seemingly been dumped by its owner, kicked out onto the street, and replaced with some new handsome fellow named the Swiffer WetJet.
“Baby Come Back” by British-American rock band Player is heard playing in the background of this advert as the mop yearns to win back its former owner, even sending her a bouquet of flowers to her doorstep. But unfortunately, she's too enamored with her new dude's powerful squirt-filled nozzles to care.
Now, while the story below isn’t exactly related to the Swiffer WetJet commercial, it does involve a cleaning device with humanistic qualities that should always remain indoors, but for some reason is outdoors. And the song “Baby Come Back” does perfectly capture the essence of this situation. I mean, I would blast that song if one of my cleaning apparatuses seemingly just up and left the house.
A woman says she couldn't find her Roomba for two days. She later learns it was out roaming the streets.
"Couldn't find my Roomba for two days and then saw this on the Ring camera," read the text in a TikTok video shared by creator @betzyproduction.
In the clip, the robotic vacuum cleaner is seen just moving along the front walkway of the home, minding its own business as if that's a totally normal place for it to be.
Comments piled up under the video, many of which made jokes about the mishap. "Roomba said 'I'm gonna go clean up these streets,'" read one comment. Another user wrote: "Rumor has it that the Roomba is still cleaning the sidewalks to this day."
A third said: "Roomba be like 'I'm outta here, making me work 24/7.'"
But other users were more concerned about the logistics of it all.
"How did it get outside?" pondered the TikTok account for the popular fast food joint Sonic.
Meanwhile, another user penned: "I have seen so many Roomba escape videos lately. Are y'all leaving your doors open or have they learned to open doors?"
@betzyproduction answered the user's question providing some clarity to her uncanny situation. "We had my front door open because we were putting Christmas decorations in and out all day. It normally stops at the stairs," she wrote.
Furthermore, in a follow-up video, @betzyproduction shared the aftermath of her Roomba's trip outside. She wrote, "It took a hit. Lost the bottom padding and both brushes cleaning the streets," alongside an image of her Roomba that has most definitely seen better days.
Once again, the Roomba jokes came in hot and heavy. "It was just trying to help keep the city clean," teased one user.
Another comment read: "It’s giving 'this is me 12 hours after my shift' vibes."
A third user said: "It's been on the streets, it's a changed Roomba now."
As one commenter previously mentioned, @betzyproduction's video is not as unique as one would think. Type "Roomba leaves house" into TikTok and a plethora of videos pop up of the exact same phenomenon occurring.
That said, hopefully, Roomba and other robotic vacuum manufacturers will work to correct this issue because it does sound like a real bummer to find out your vacuum ran away from home. And even if it does come back as @betzyproduction's did, the device will likely have incurred major damage.
