The line to the show was excruciatingly long. But that's to be expected when you're waiting to see Honda's ASIMO, a four-foot walking humanoid robot.

After standing an hour on the crowded line, we took our seats and eagerly awaited the show.

"Um, excuse me."

We looked up. One of the ushers inched over to our seats. She motioned towards Tim.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for volunteers from the audience to take part in our show. Would you like to be a volunteer?"

Tim blinked. "Uh, what do you mean?"

"You'd be part of the show. You'd have to sign a waiver. Then you get some free gifts, and a gift certificate."

"Dude, do it!" I hooted.

"Totally Tim, that would be sooo cool!" Dawn cheered.

"Uhhh… I don't know."

"You'll be on stage man! Dude! On stage!"

"I don't know…"

"It'll be easy," the usher added. "You don't have to do much."

"Come on Tim, it will be sooo cooooool!" Dawn cheered again.

"Uh, I don't know…" Tim shook his head. "Sorry, nah."

The usher walked off. We turned to Tim.

"Oh my gosh, how come you don't want to do it?" Dawn shook Tim in utter bewilderment.

"I don't know… in front of all those people? On stage? I don't know…"

"Dude, on stage. You're right. You'd be on the freakin' stage, with ASIMO. You'd get to touch ASIMO!" I looked Tim directly in the eyes. "The chicks in the audience would think you were such a stud, man. A major stud."

Something sparkled in Tim's eyes. Suddenly, he got up and walked away.

"Huh? Where's he going? Is he pissed at us?" asked Dawn.

"Nope! He's—he's going to do it!"

"What, really? Cooooool!"

We watched our friend approach the usher. The usher shouted, "We got one!" into her headset and dragged Tim to the front. There, he sat down with two other volunteers and filled out waivers, effectively signing away their lives in the event that ASIMO explodes and sterilizes them with radiation.

The lights dimmed. The show finally began.

ASIMO and a presenter came on the stage. After an impressive demonstration, the presenter brought the three volunteers on.

Tim, an Asian-American guy, stood there between an African-American guy and a Caucasian girl. How multi-ethnic.

The presenter asked each one for his or her name. When Tim came up, Dawn howled, "Woooooo!"

"Ooo, looks like you've got some friends in the audience," said the presenter. The lights flashed on momentarily.

"Woooooo!" Dawn continued.

I contemplated shouting, "Tim, you're hot!" but didn't get a chance to.

"Okay, now I'm going to quiz each of you," the presenter continued. She asked each volunteer a multiple-choice question. Behind the presenter, ASIMO enthusiastically pumped his hand or shook his head at each answer, so the volunteers didn't really have to use any brain power.

"Okay, now we're going to show off some moves!" the presenter smirked. "Dance moves! First, we're going to do Hawaiian! Come on volunteers, see if you can keep up!"

ASIMO gyrated its waist. Tim and the volunteers struggled to keep up.

"Now, let's do Thai!"

ASIMO put its arms up and gyrated again. The volunteers almost tumbled into each other.

"Now everyone's favorite: disco!"

ASIMO did a Saturday Night Fever impression. Tim's hands shot into the air as he shook his money-maker. Dawn laughed out loud.

"That was great everyone!" cheered the presenter. "Okay, now we're going to balance on one leg and see who can hold it the longest."

ASIMO lifted one leg and tilted slightly. The volunteers did the same. They teeter-tottered. It was a good thing the presenter wasn't strict on this contest; Tim fell at one point and quickly recovered with a shocked expression on his face.

After a few moments, the volunteers gave up. ASIMO stood there, still on one leg, and waved at them.

"All right! Great job everyone!" The presenter beamed a smile that could be seen on Pluto. "Let's give our volunteers a big hand!"

Tim came back with a big smile on his face and a handful of free stuff.

"That was so totally coooool!" shouted Dawn.

"Dude, you are a stud. A major stud," I stated.

Tim grinned. "That really was cool! Thanks for getting me up there! Too bad I couldn't touch ASIMO though."

. . .

Have you ever seen ASIMO?