Everything I know I learned on The Street…. Sesame Street. And today, on the show’s 40^th anniversary, I want to give credit where credit is due.

Without Big Bird and the gang, I never would have figured out exactly what things are not like the others. This logic has helped me weed out the good guys from the frat guys at parties, and the under-cooked hamburgers from the well-done ones at the dining hall. Sesame Street has single-handedly saved me from STDs and E. coli.

Ernie and Bert taught me how to cope with living with a roommate and how to pick up on subtle undertones of romantic feelings from them, too.

And the Count, well he taught me how to count… slowly… and then faster… and then slowly again.