April Fools Post Cookie Monster’s Path of Destruction.
Introduction
This week’s post is an April fools
post. The subject matter has no relevance to nature or animals. This week I am
going to write about a question that has haunted me for years and years. The
question is how much damage did Cookie Monster do in the episode Big Bird’s
Birthday? Like most children when I was a child I watched Sesame Street. The
episode Big Bird’s Birthday aired on March 15, 1991 and became a favorite of
mine as a child. The main reason I enjoyed it was because Cookie Monster wants
to eat Big Birds cake, while mostly everyone else on Sesame street is ice
skating. However, he knows he cannot eat Big Birds cake, so he eats many other items
on Sesame Street instead. So, today I am finally going to answer the question that
has bothered me for years, how much damage did Cookie Monster do?
Cookie Monster’s Path of Destruction.
It appears Cookie monster started
out in the open area where the tables and chairs for the party were set up. In
the next scene we see him eating the lamp post and mail box. From there he
heads back to the party area eating parts of the wooden door wall, wooden
plates, the windows and concrete stairs. He finally ends his eating rampage at
Hoppers store. In the video we can see he at least ate the store terrace
and the news stand. The episode never shows how much damage he did inside the
store, so I am not going to count it in the damage items list due to inconclusive
evidences.
Damage Breakdown
Price of two Wooden chairs $56 each for a total of $112.Price of two Wooden tables $90 each for a total of $180.
One lamp post seems to be priced between $300 and $1,000.
Street sign. Street signs can range between $50 and $200.
The price of the three wooden doors that were similar to the ones at Sesame Street were priced at $128 each. Total $384.
The average price of two wooden plates is between $150 total $300.00.
The damage done to the concrete stair and stair case was actually not that bad. I feel one bag of concrete would repair it, which would be around $5. The price for the repair is where it gets a little pricey. The national average price for a handyman price is $60 an hour. I am guessing the job would take around 3 hours to complete. “I’m no handyman so forgive me if this time-frame is wrong. So, 60x3= $180.
one flower pot and window frame. From research online windows frame seemed to range between $30 and $60 dollars.
one tire swing. The average price of tires was between $80 and $150.
Again for the damage done to Hoppers store I am not counting anything inside because there is no evidence of how much, or if anything inside got destroyed. We can see the shop terrace is destroyed which mostly likely was in the $1,500 range. We also see Cookie monster eating a newspaper and it’s stated the Hoppers store has a small news stand outside. The average costs for small newspaper display stands is between $25 and $200.
Final Damage Tally
At the low end the damage done by
Cookie monster came out to $4,075.
At the high end the damage done by
Cookie monster came out to $5,200.
Punishment for the Crime
Sesame Street is located in New York
City. By state law Cookie Monster would have been guilty of second degree
criminal mischief, which is damaging someone else's property in an amount that
exceeds $1500. The lamp post also would have been in this category. As stated
above even on the low end Cookie Monster caused $4,075 in damages. A Second
degree criminal mischief is a 'D' Non Violent Felony. The penalty for this is
no jail time but probation for 1 to 7 years. Cookie monster could also be
facing a $5,000 fine for the damage. However, these figures are just for the
private property he destroyed. Cookie monster faces even more legal trouble for
destroying the mailbox.
Title 18 U.S. Code § 1705 addresses
the Destruction of mail and letter boxes. The code states “Whoever willfully or maliciously injures, tears down or destroys any
letter box or other receptacle intended or used for the receipt or delivery of
mail on any mail route, or breaks open the same or willfully or maliciously
injures, defaces or destroys any mail deposited therein, shall be fined under
this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.” The fine for
the act can be up to $250,000. So, in the end Cookie monster is facing three year
in prison and seven years’ probation as well as possibly $255,000 in fines.
Conclusion
During this post we discovered how
much damage Cookie monster did and the legal action that would have been taken
against him. It appears Cookie monster will be off the streets for at least
three years. At the minimum $4,075 worth of damage was done for probably a $20
cake. Cookie monster should have just eaten the cake. It would have saved Sesame
Street a lot of damage.
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