It seems that every time I log in to Facebook, I see “What Character from X?” surveys that people have taken. I’ve never done one of those, but it did get me thinking about self selecting a fictional character for myself. I chose the realm of Sesame Street.
While at the moment I feel more like Cookie Monster (with my unbelievably strong sweet tooth), the Sesame Street character I most resemble is The Count.
I blame my mom. (I love you, Ma!) Growing up, we would spend each commercial break putting away 25 things. To this day, I do my straightening up in 25-item increments.
The counting spread to other aspects of my life. As I walked to school, if I was bored, I counted the steps. For years this habit faded into the background. When I started hiking, however, it returned with a vengeance.
At the base of really steep climbs, I take a deep breath, put my head down and started walking … and counting. I didn’t look up again until I reached step 100. It’s amazing how much closer to the top you can get in 100 steps! I tried counting and still looking up at the top, but the results don’t seem nearly as impressive if the distance to the top is only one step different.
Needless to say, dancing didn’t help with my counting addiction. Strangely enough, in this area where the count is vital, mine tended to go awry. Many times Kurt would stop me and shake his head. what are you counting? The numbers don’t sync up with either the music or the movement, which seem to be independent of one another and the count!”
The entire time I was dancing I didn’t hike as I was too afraid I might injure myself out on the trail. Dance was too important to me. I returned to hiking again once dance was out of the picture. I noticed a big difference in climbing the hills: I now count in base 8!
one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight
two, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight
It makes me laugh every time I climb a hill.
Which Sesame Street character do you most associate with? or Is anyone else a counter?
Grown Up, Now What? 