My three kids grew up on Sesame Street. Like it or not, I could sing most of the songs. Who knew it would come in handy one day.
I lived on the San Francisco Peninsula and, for a while, worked for a company based in the northern part of Los Angeles. That meant frequent trips to LA. I would fly in and out of Burbank Airport, with its funky, slightly worn terminal building.
I was waiting in line to pick up my boarding pass for the Southwest Airlines cattle call. I was behind a woman who had her daughter in a stroller and a guy who appeared to be the girl's grandfather. We'd been waiting for the counter to open for quite a while and the kid had just about reached the end of her rope. She was getting pretty verbal and her mother was not having much success in keeping her quiet.
I thought what the hell and asked the girl, "Do you like Sesame Street?"
She looked around with a big smile and said, "Yes."
Meanwhile, the grandfather looking guy was giving me the I'll Kill You Pervert look. I figured If you're gonna be a bear, be a grizzly bear so I asked if she knew the words to Elephant Elevator Operator. She did so I stated off and she jumped in.
Mom had a look of relief and granddad looked totally confused. We finished up EEO and before I could think of another song, another father farther ahead in line asked about the Batty Bat.
As I remember, we got through four songs before the counter finally opened. We also had about ten parents singing along.
Too bad every boarding area couldn't be this much fun.