A bartender is sitting behind the bar on a typical day, when the door bursts open and in come four exuberant Marines. They come to the bar and order five bottles of beer and ten glasses. They take their order over and sit down at a large table. The caps are popped, the glasses are filled and they begin toasting and chanting, “51 days, 51 days, 51 days!” Soon three more Marines arrive, take up their drinks and the chanting grows, “51 days, 51 days, 51 days!” Two more Marines show up and soon their voices are joined in raising the roof, “51 days, 51 days, 51 days!” Finally the tenth Marine comes in with a picture under his arm, he walks over to the table, and sets the picture in the middle and the table erupts.

Up jump the others, they begin dancing around the table, exchanging high-fives, all the while chanting, “51 days, 51 days, 51 days!” The bartender can’t contain his curiosity any longer, so he walks over to the table. There in the center is a beautifully framed child’s puzzle of the cookie monster. When the frenzy dies down a little bit the bartender asks one of the Marines, “What’s all the chanting and celebration about?”

The Marine who brought in the picture pipes in, “Everyone thinks that Marines are dumb and they make fun of us. So, we decided to set the record straight. Ten of us got together, bought this puzzle and put it together. The side of the box said 2-4 years, but we put it together in 51 days.”

By Rod Powers, About.com Guide