The Spiritual Genius of Oscar the Grouch
The beloved Sesame Street curmudgeon is a Buddha in disguise.
Here’s a no-brainer of a question for you, which recently took the Twittersphere by storm: if you had to be marooned on a deserted island with one of the following four Sesame Street characters — Grover, Elmo, Cookie Monster, or Oscar the Grouch, which would you choose?
The answer is obvious to anybody who gives it a moment’s thought. Grover would go mad within 24 hours. Elmo would probably be dead within the same time span, strangled by his companion in response to his non-stop self-referential babbling. And as for Cookie Monster, it would take him all of five minutes to ascertain that there are no cookies on the island, whereupon he would deem you an adequate substitute for said baked goods.
Oscar, by contrast, is not only accustomed to loneliness, boredom, and hardship, but positively relishes in such states of mental duress. Not only would he not cause a fuss about being marooned, he would probably enjoy it — including the exquisite suffering of baking in the hot tropical sun in the tight confines of an aluminum garbage can. He would, in other words, be perfect company in such circumstances.
Of all the iconic characters thrown up by Sesame Street over the decades, Oscar the Grouch is without doubt the most fascinating. Foul-tempered…
