Big Bird is Creepy

Here are two facts about me:

1. I love to Google anything and everything.

2. I am afraid of Big Bird.

What happens if you combine Google and Big Bird? This. This very horrible, horrible thing.

Google is joining in on the celebration of Sesame Street's 40th Anniversary by changing the 'Google' image with different Sesame Street characters each day. Today is the Count's turn. Last week, Wednesday to be exact, was Big Bird's day of fame. I remember because that was a day of panic and terror for me (okay, so I'm being dramatic, but I'm allowed-- this is my blog). I saw that big yellow creepy face everywhere last Wednesday. Everytime I logged on the computer, BAM: Big Bird. When a commercial came on for that night's episode of Jimmy Kimmel...you got it: Big Bird. Jimmy Kimmel is my favorite talk show, but not that night. Big Bird was a guest on the show and was being interviewed. I could not watch. Just seeing the preview for that night's show made me break out in a cold sweat. I kid you not.

Why does Big Bird scare me so much? I don't really know. I've tried to trace the moment of when Big Bird stopped being that friendly bird taking up residence in a nest at 123 Sesame Street and became a source of fear for me. I can't really pinpoint it. I honestly loved watching Sesame Street as a small child. I never missed an episode. I even loved Big Bird's movie, Follow That Bird. During my preschool days, I went to preschool in the morning, came home and played Barbie's, then watched Sesame Street until Dad came home from work. Dad coming home meant B-Bird Street, as I called it, was over and it was dinner time. That's what my life consisted of. That was my daily schedule. Sesame Street actually taught me a lot. It's a very educational show, and I have nothing bad to say against the show at all. There's just something about that bird...

I think my fear started with a Big Bird stuffed animal. My Grandparents gave me and my sister each very large Big Bird stuffed animals. These things were giants. It was something with the eyes. It would sit in a little chair in my room and just stare. With those big, hard, plastic, pink eye-lidded eyeballs. Creepy. Even now, it's something about those eyes that get me. Chills. There's just something about Big Bird that makes me uneasy. If you really study Big Bird, maybe you'll see what I see. He's so big and tall (8-foot, 2-inches) and it's just so unnatural for a bird to be that, well, BIG.

It's ridiculous to have a fear of a Muppet character that is featured on a children's television show. I know this. It makes no sense at all. People have irrational fears, and this just happens to be mine.

I'm not the only one with a fear of Big Bird, though. I was actually glad to find out (through the use of my dear friend, Google) that I am not the only adult suffering from the fear of this childhood character. It just goes to show that no matter how weird we may think we are, there is always someone, somewhere who is like us or even weirder. It's a comforting thought! Big Bird made a special guest appearance on an episode of Deal or No Deal, (click for the full story) to help contestant Lamar Wilson overcome his childhood fear of the bird. I don't exactly think being surprised on national television by an 8 foot bird that you're already scared of will magically cure that fear. Just sayin'. Yep, so, when Lamar saw Big Bird, he ran off the stage. I would have done the same exact thing. I wish I could find Lamar Wilson so we could start a support group together. I bet Lamar and I would be great pals. It would be nice to discuss my fear with another B-Bird Hater. Someone that understands.