Yep. This guy. Apparently he has his own social media account and occasionally sends out thoughts to his hundreds of thousands of followers which was the case yesterday when he offered up this:
The response, at least from the sort of people who follow Sesame Street characters on Twitter, was overwhelming. This innocent enough post at last check has been viewed a staggering 140 million times. Elmo would be forgiven if his follow-up post was something like “Sorry I asked!” What followed Elmo’s question was a torrent of angst unleashed by the American public which I will summarize thusly…
“Since you asked Elmo, I am anxious, fearful, tired, depressed and broke. Also, I am dogged by an overwhelming sense of existential dread and despair.”
The negative responses that have poured in to Elmo were quickly noted by the Mental Health community as evidence that more spending is required on mental health services. Even President Biden felt compelled to put his two cents worth in. Soon every grievance group in the United States piped in to point out that mental health issues “hit women and minorities hardest”, just in case white men were thinking of stealing the spotlight. Finally, Elmo himself chimed in with this:
By the time Elmo came along, my kids had moved on from Sesame Street so he and I have no history to speak of. I do remember the Tickle Me Elmo craze, but other than that, I got nothing. But, as cartoonish characters go he seems nice enough. And, I suppose it was nice of him to ask how we are doing. But the onslaught of negative responses to his question are puzzling to me. What would motivate anyone to answer him with an airing of every negative thought that ever entered the human heart? Our ancestors and their ancestors before them lived lives of quiet desperation where the issues weren’t “I’m anxious, depressed and broke” so much as it was, “I’m exhausted, hungry and cold.” But even so, they weren’t the kind of people who would offer up their tales of woe to total strangers or even their closest friends if given the smallest opening. All Elmo had to do was post a five word question on the internet and suddenly 140 million people were on the couch!
Yes, I understand that we are living in confusing times. Yes, I know that life is hard and there are times when its easy to feel overwhelmed. Yes, mental health is as important as physical health. But, while life in 2024 has its challenges, this isn’t the Black Plague, people. This isn’t the Blitz in London. We aren’t literally starving and freezing while standing in soup lines during the Great Depression. Most of the people who answered Elmo did so using devices containing the combined wisdom of the world delivered to the palms of their hands. On those devices are thousands of mental health apps offering help with every emotional crisis known to exist in the human experience. Never in the history of civilization have average people had such easy access to every slice of human knowledge. Never in the history of civilization has a smaller percentage of the human population lived in poverty, without food and shelter, running water and access to health care. But don’t tell that to Elmo. He would be forgiven for coming to the conclusion that his fellow Americans must be living through the darkest moment in the entire universe.
Oh and…love you too, Elmo.
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