Please don't tickle me, Elmo

While I love my internship, I don't love Times Square. Besides it being super crowded and making my hair smell like smoke and meat, there are always those super creepy people in character costumes.

They look like this. 

So I'm walking to the train and there's a mass group of them in the middle, and as I'm walking past them a blue elmo (not a cookie monster) lunges at me with his arms spread out and I hear a muffled "Come here baby!" 

I'm so scarred. 

All I wanted to do was shout