The Elmo Experience

- 528 Words


A few weeks ago I made a decision that I felt may have been hazardous to my health.  I opted to purchase tickets for the boys and I to Sesame Street Live - Elmo Makes Music.  I knew that no good could come from it, but I decided to press forward.  For the boys, I say!

To start things off right, we got a late start and ran into a ton of traffic generated by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, whose first show started one hour later than Sesame Street.  To be honest, I wasn’t aware that they were playing, and I was even more surprised when I learned how many people were there.  In my way.

It was at this point that I learned my first lesson.  See, in a concert or other presentation, floor seats are the way to go, right?  You get the best experience from the floor.

Except when the audience is only three feet tall.  Whoops.  The boys spent the entire show on my lap, etc., because the floor seats were simply folding chairs so they weren’t elevated in any way.  Good to know, that’s for sure.

Regardless, as soon as we sat down, the inevitable events began happening.  Carter decided he was hungry.  Never mind the large lunch he just ate; he saw that other kids had popcorn and set his mind to acquiring some of his own.  I put up a defense for about 15 minutes before I finally gave in.  Then, not even 20 seconds after we sat down from buying popcorn, Carter then informed me that he absolutely had to go to the bathroom.  So we went for a walkabout all around the Arena so that he could hit the bathrooms.

5-10 minutes after we sat down?  Fifteen minute intermission. “When’s Elmo going to be back on?” Grrr.

The show continued on to show a segment of Elmo’s World, which if you’ve ever watched Sesame Street, it is the single most annoying portion of the show.  The same rough idea happens each show regardless of the topic, as happened here also.  Except, wait, Mr. Noodle is black now.  Last time I remembered, he was white as could be.  So I checked it out tonight, and I was spot on.  The guy I had in mind stuck out in my head for some reason; turns out it was Michael Jeter who also had a role on the TV show Evening Shade and also a ton of other stuff.  Then I saw that he passed on a few years ago.  Whoops.  Oh well, I suppose creative license allows for many odd things.  Who danced very well, in my opinion.

All in all though, it wasn’t as bad as I was afraid it would be.  The boys definitely had a blast, although every hour or so they ask me where Elmo is.  Of course I provide the correct answer:  Hopefully they tossed his ass into the garbage can with Oscar the Grouch in order to get a little bit of the ass-kicking he has coming to him.  He’s on Sesame Street so that all the other little boys and girls can see him too.