This week marked the 40th anniversary of the breakthrough TV program Sesame Street. I’ve written before about some of the many lessons you can learn from this cultural icon, but today I’m going to zero in something new.

You might have an Elmo blog, a Cookie Monster blog, or a Big Bird blog. (How you define those is up to you.)

But some of the smartest and most successful bloggers out there bear more in common with the show’s least-likeable character: Oscar the Grouch.

Oscar was an important character from the show’s beginning, and on the surface he doesn’t seem to quite fit in.

Everyone else on Sesame Street is pretty much cheerful and happy all the time. They have infinite patience, everyone loves children, and friendship is king.

Oscar, on the other hand, hates kittens, rainbows, and having a nice day. He loves anything dirty or dingy or rusty.

He was always my dad’s favorite character on the show, which annoyed me to no end when I was six. These days, I’m starting to see my dad’s point.

Oscar doesn’t want everyone to love him. (That would be his biggest nightmare