Member-only story
In the 1980s, I handed Big Bird his paycheck every two weeks.
My brother had worked for Children’s Televisions Workshop — the people who made Sesame Street — and managed to get me in there, on the ground floor. I’d been struggling to find work. I was very capable of DOING good work but not very good at GETTING good work.
That remained true my entire life, right up to today at retirement age. I’m still always looking for good work. But that’s another story — one I should write.
For now, let’s talk about Big Bird.
I was hired to work in payroll. With my B.A. in economics, I was calculating hours on time sheets and handing people their paychecks every two weeks. Simple math. One of the employees who usually came in himself to pick up his check was Carroll Spinney — Big Bird!
He was (then) a thin vibrant man, prematurely grey. He was upbeat and always seemed to be in a hurry. He seemed to be excited about life. I never really got to know him, although he was always personable to me. Like I said, he was in a hurry. He took his check, had a bit of small talk, and then disappeared.
Later, I moved to the music department, and I‘d see him at the studio with a closed circuit feed onto a small TV monitor in my office. When he was on screen, I stopped work to watch. He was…
