Google is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street by featuring Sesame Street characters in its main page. Having grown up on a steady diet of Sesame Street back in the 70s (and well into the 80s), I appreciate this gesture from Google. Sesame Street has been one of the most influential forces on my life, and I know it has been for countless other people — including, obviously, people at Google.
I studied in a school that didn’t exactly place a premium on English, writing, and the arts. What my school was strong in was math and science, but as I was never much of a scientist and mathematician, I naturally lagged behind my classmates. I craved literature, the arts, and other such “useless” subjects, but they were never really taught that well. I would have languished in that state had it not been for Sesame Street, which began airing in the Philippines in the early 70s.
I loved the show from Day One, and I enjoyed all the characters — human or otherwise — that made up the Sesame Street universe. Grover, Big Bird, The Count, Cookie Monster, Ernie, Bert, Kermit, and all the muppets became my friends, and the humans became neighbors who taught me how to read, write, spell, and yes, even count (ah-ah-ah-ah!!!). The episodes were repeated ad nauseam over the next years (and decades), but I didn’ t mind. I was having so much fun learning that I would watch them over and over and over and over again.
I don’t mind saying that I learned English through Sesame Street, and I’d like the makers of the show to know that they succeeded in their mission in me and many others of my generation. We’re too many to count, so let’s just say with The Count, “Millions! Millions of people who learned while having fun! Ah-ah-ah-ah!!!”
Random Posts:
- Learning guitar
- Bro. Eddie’s reply to being called a ‘compromiser’
- Capturing light
- Soil paintings
- Goin’ nuclear
Ok. That is why when I open my google search, I have Cookie Monster on it.
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yep. sometimes you get big bird also