Should the New York Marathon be cancelled?

So hurricane Sany hits, and New York City and surrounding areas are crippled.

Yes, we all know the devastation to the area so I am not going to rehash it.

On Wednesday it was announced that the NYC Marathon would continue as scheduled.  I thought "hmmm... this should be interesting."

I quickly figured out that it would be "controversial."  Not that I think it is controversial, but the mass public would think it is.

I think the sticky part of this whole thing is the fact that it starts in Staten Islan, and that was a spot especially hit hard.

I get that the local residents there will have a hard time seeing resources allocated to a "sporting event", while their lives are in turmoil.

I saw one woman intervied who said (not ver batim, but pretty close) We have nothing, no cash in our bank, no credit cards, no water, no food, etc.

Okay, this thing was coming for almost a week, and you did nothing to prepare?  Why should the marathon not be held because you refuse to do anything to prepare for a national distaster?  This person was shown by a news crew as a reason not to hold the marathon.  Although, I am not sure if the reporter asked "should the marathon be cancelled?".

I know many of you will think I am heartless.  I am not.  I know a lot of people in that area.  It is a tough situation.  But if you live your life day to day, paycheck to paycheck, meal to meal, the smallest wrinkles in life will be difficult.

.......and yes, I can speak from experience.  I was laid off from work 2 times in 18 months.  I never missed any of my obligations to my debters, or my family.  Yes, I was somewhat lucky, but I was prepared and focused on moving forward.

So the question, in my opinion, should be "why should the marathon be cancelled?"

The marathon brings in over 300 million in business.  I fuels the hospitatlity industry, sporting goods business, and many other periphery businesses.  There are countless business along the route who benefit from it.

I understand if police resources are being used which are needed elsewhere, but the NYPD has said that is not an issue.

I saw a report about some massive generators being used for the marathon media tent, and citizens being outraged that those generators weren't being put to use in communities without power.  Problem with that is...... I don't believe you can just wheel a massive generator up to a power grid and flip a swtich.  It is a bad perception, but those can be used to power all of the homes they potentially could.

All the while, Times Sqaure is still lit up.  (I was told it never lost power, but can't confirm that).  So Times Square stays lit, and nobody has a problem, but the marathon uses a genrator to power a media tent and they are evil.  I don't get it.

I think it comes down to this.  The mentality of "If some of us are suffering, nobody should be enjoying."

This reminds me of when me kids were babies.  We had a few who never really slept.  There were times where I would get up with the kids to ensure my wife could sleep.  There were  times she would get up, but would be mad that I would stay asleep.  I would tell her "One of us needs to sleep.  Let's take turns so our house can function."  She actually said once that if she is up, I should be up too.  Yes....if she is suffering, I should be too.

Those days are long gong, and my wife is awesome and we love each other dearly, but those were difficult times in our lives.

This seems to be the bottom line with the marathon though.  "If we are suffering, all of you should be suffering.  Or, at least, not be enjoying".

By cancelling the marathon, the suffering would be expanded.

If the case is made that a significant amount of resources are being diverted to the marathon when they are GOING TO BE USED in other areas, then I might think of this differently.

But for now, I say, "Racers, get on your marks."

Maybe movie theaters, Broadway shows, entertainment venues, basketball games, football games, anything else fun should be cancelled too.

......and I guess this means I can never run for political office...... Darn.