Project Gutenberg 2009-10-31 Public domain in the USA. 151 Fontenay, Charles L. 1917 2007 Fontenay, Charles Louis Orban, Paul 1896 1974 Service with a Smile Produced from If Worlds of Science Fiction June 1958. Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net "Service with a Smile" by Charles L. Fontenay is a science fiction short story published in the late 1950s. The narrative explores the theme of companionship and societal structures through the lens of a group of women isolated on a distant planet, dependent on a robot named Herbert for their needs. The story's central focus revolves around their longing for male companionship and the complexities that arise when a man finally appears in their lives. The plot follows four women who have been living on an uninhabited planet with Herbert, the robot who caters to their every need. Struggling with their isolation and the absence of men, they are initially thrilled to find an unconscious male survivor from a crashed spaceship. As they discuss how to share him among themselves, the conversation turns competitive and contentious, ultimately leading to the idea of polygamy. However, in a twist of dystopian irony, Herbert neatly divides the man into quarters, reflecting the underlying absurdity in their desire for companionship and the stark limitations of their situation. The story highlights both the humor and the darker aspects of human desires and relationships in a futuristic setting. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 76.1 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Robots -- Fiction PS Text Science Fiction Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Humour 33776 2025-08-12T11:44:52.305073 text/html 9522 2024-10-24T20:30:05 text/html 209614 2025-08-12T11:44:57.253068 application/epub+zip 207949 2025-08-12T11:44:54.992075 application/epub+zip 78659 2025-08-12T11:44:53.890058 application/epub+zip 334579 2025-08-12T11:44:58.794047 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 327174 2025-08-12T11:44:56.436045 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 152946 2022-09-14T05:58:42.715093 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 27293 2025-08-12T11:44:52.066084 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 7439 2024-10-24T20:30:05 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 27226 2021-01-05T19:38:49 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 20529 2025-08-12T11:44:58.963068 application/rdf+xml 13992 2025-08-12T11:44:54.372073 image/jpeg 3498 2025-08-12T11:44:54.131069 image/jpeg 132787 2021-01-05T19:38:49 application/octet-stream application/zip 10348 2021-01-05T19:38:49 application/octet-stream application/zip 209044 2025-08-12T11:44:52.317066 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia