You might not have thought that Sesame Street could ever speak to an adult on a deep, emotional, personal level. But in this case, the show goes beyond just learning the alphabet, and gets a bit too real for some journalists on Twitter.
In a clip that has since gone viral, Cookie Monster is negotiating his journalism contract with Big Bird and Abby Cadabby. Before he takes the job, Cookie Monster wants to discuss his salary, benefits, time off and his retirement package. But the negotiation quickly ends when Big Bird and Abby offer him a single cookie as payment, which he gladly takes.
Not too different from the meager payment that many media professionals are offered these days.
Writers and journalists everywhere are feeling like this Sesame Street segment represents their lives almost too accurately. The clip has over 1.5 million views, and continues to gain more and more as it circulates around Twitter.
You can read some of the best reactions from journalists (who are, of course, known for their way with words) below:
thrilled my first year after college has been adapted for television https://t.co/zUFo0dhwPO
— jamie loftus ? (@jamieloftusHELP) January 7, 2019
damn if this isn’t the most searing indictment of digital media hiring i have seen https://t.co/iGswsX6c5n
— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) January 7, 2019
Turns out Cookie Monster owns the press harder than anyone
— Lyz Lenz (@lyzl) January 7, 2019
this pierced me right to the soul https://t.co/FFfqfcjE9b
— A West (@ayyy_west) January 7, 2019
Live shot from every reporter salary negotiation: https://t.co/2xDbzburOP
— Laura McGann (@lkmcgann) January 7, 2019
So we guess the moral of the story is: if you’re interested in a career in media, be prepared to get paid in cookies (or the monetary equivalent).