Slimey the Worm

Since worms have no arms or legs, it's understandable that they might need a little help now and then.  What's NOT so easy to understand is why Oscar the Grouch himself would offer so much aid and affection towards a happy, good-natured worm.

Worms live in dirt, and dirt is "dirty," but it's not dirty in the same way that trash is dirty.  No germ factor.  Have you ever found a WORM in your GARBAGE?  Probably not.  a worm is not a fly, a worm is not a maggot.  a worm lives in a garden, not in a trash can.

So basically Oscar adopted a pet in general, not a pet related to garbage.  Nobody likes garbage, but people like worms.  They're neat and don't hurt anybody.

Sesame Street seems to have a cultural divide when it comes to names.  How come Slimey the Worm is named that?   I GUESS because he is a worm that is slimey (he never really looked very slimey).  Big Bird is a bird that is big, Cookie Monster is a monster that likes to eat cookies.  But then how come puppets like Kermit and Grover get to have human hippie names?  There's no "Hoppy the Frog" or "Screamy the Incompetent Waiter."  It's just Kermit the Frog and Grover.  Very inconsistent.

What was Big Bird's relationship with Slimey the Worm like?  Don't birds eat those?

Big Bird was always nice to Oscar the Grouch, whereas Oscar was pretty nasty to Big Bird, calling him names like "bird brain" and "big canary."  So imagine if Big Bird was secretly plotting to EAT Slimey.  That could set up a VERY emotional power triangle, but Slimey would have to do his part to complete it.  He's such a naturally happy worm, it wouldn't be much of a problem to establish that he likes Big Bird a lot.  Just his usual smile would do.  But to complete the picture he would need a reason to really resent Oscar.  Maybe Oscar couldn't afford to send him to worm college (Oscar doesn't have a lot of money, he lives in a can).  Maybe Slimey would someday like to know who his real parents were.

Probably not, though.  He's a worm.

There are unfortunately no good youtubes available of Slimey the Worm, so here is Telephone Rock again.

Click to view... The Telephone Rock.