Shakedown in Times Square

Brad and I were walking through Times Square on Sunday, noticing that there seemed to be more children's characters than usual. Elmo, Woody, Cookie Monster, Mickey Mouse, the Tin Man, Hello Kitty, Minnie Mouse, Cat Woman, Smurfs ..... you name the character and I bet you can find it in Times Square. We were trying to figure out why there were so many of them. My naive assumption was that it was a Chamber of Commerce type of thing, you know, trying to make Times Square more family friendly. Brad thought it could be commercially driven, with the characters sponsored by whomever can make money off of them (Disney, etc.). So that's how our thinking was evolving when all of a sudden I was approached by a very enthusiastic Cookie Monster and he asked me if I wanted my picture taken with him. Before I knew it Minnie Mouse was on my other side, and then Hello Kitty (she actually looks more like an imposter than the real Hello Kitty) joined in. Fun! A picture with all these characters! Was I game? Of course - it's New York, we're enjoying the day, and it's so festive! "Brad! Here's the camera!" "One, two, three, cheese!" Fun! I'm even standing next to Cookie Monster - John will appreciate this! " Ok, let's go." Not so fast. In a New York nano second I was quickly surrounded by all three characters, but I couldn't understand what they were saying to me. "Tip for the picture." What? "C'mon Brad, let's go." I'm still surrounded and the characters are holding out their open coin bags. "Tip for the picture!" I can sometimes be slow to figure things out, but this one didn't take me long to get to the aha moment. Each character is wearing a little purse and each little purse is open, waiting for the tip. So Brad obliged them and we went on our way. This experience - obviously - solved the mystery of why the characters are out in such great numbers. And so we (and now you, too) are wiser for the experience (though a few dollars poorer), and should a character approach us in the future offering to be in our picture, we'll be fully aware of what that offer implies.