“Like attracts like.”
In my younger days when I was dealing with some big demons in my life all my friends were dealing with similar issues. Somehow in spite of our craziness we formed a support group and gave each other what we needed. Now all grown-up and having dealt with those “issues”, we’ve grown apart yet still have an unbreakable bond.
In my 30’s nearly all of my friends (including my husband) are self-employed, small business owners just like myself. Being your own boss is amazing. You can’t put a price on the feelings of pride and accomplishment we each feel about doing something we are passionate about and making a living from it.
Being self-employed is an amazing journey full of ups and downs. It definitely has it’s struggles. If we don’t work, we don’t get paid. There are no paid vacations, no assistance with paying for health insurance and when there’s a crisis of some sort and we go days without work we don’t make any money.
By now most people in NYC know that the marathon is taking place on Sunday, November 4th despite hurricane Sandy’s destruction. Even as I type this I struggle with the idea of running this race. One minute I’m at the race expo feeling the excitement of the race while the next minute I find that I’m undecided if I’m going to run.
I came home to an email from Jack Rabbit Sports, a local running store.
In many ways, we have been incredibly lucky through the storm. None of our staff were hurt and none of our stores were damaged. We’ve even been able to help runners and sponsors with the NYC Marathon this weekend. We hope that you and your family have come through the storm and its aftermath unscathed.
But having our Union Sq store closed during Marathon week has been a huge blow. As you probably know, Union Sq is our largest store, employing the most people. Regardless of whether the store is open or not, we still have to pay for rent, inventory, and payroll for salaried staff. And with the store closed, we cannot offer our hourly people as much opportunity to work, which really hurts our retail staff.
Jack Rabbit is a much bigger business than mine (and my husbands combined) and yet they are struggling after the storm so much so that they are reaching out to customers to help not only their bottom line, but the bottom line of their employees.
The “little businesses” need support. The New York City Marathon is happening this weekend and it’s helping small business like those of my friends and those of my family to be able to pay their bills.
I realize that people lost homes and loved ones. I realize that there is a ton of work to do in the tri-state area. My goal isn’t to diminish those things, it’s simply to share one of the positive reasons for having this race. Please join me in supporting the relief efforts
Jocelyn says
Thanks for sharing this perspective. I think it’s really hard (as a runner) not to feel guilty no matter what we do – run or not. I feel torn as well. But interesting about Jack Rabbit.
It’s still crazy that on Saturday we ran 10 awesome miles together – it was so exciting, fun nd amazing final long run. I guess I wish I still had that feeling today.
Jess says
I totally agree with you! I’m not in the least bit excited at this point and our run a week ago seems like a lifetime away.
gracekelle says
I just wrote about this very same topic. While I don’t necessarily support the city’s decision to move forward with the marathon, I don’t think the alternative is a better choice. I think runners are some of the most empathetic, supportive, passionate people in the world and no one wants to see nyc thrive more than we do. I am heartbroken and saddened to see that a joyous event has been clouded. Will stop ranting. More thoughts on my blog if you care to read them 🙂 thanks for writing today.
Jess says
I agree 100%!
Holly says
I am a runner in Michigan and have followed all of you through your blogs and can’t imagine how you all are feeling about Sunday. I am happy to support NYRR/Red Cross but didn’t know how. Thanks for the post!
Jess says
Thank you for reading and for commenting. I’m so all over the place with this and my decision to run or not run.
Jen says
I reached out to Jack Rabbit and I think they’re happy to send shoes outside of the city, and since I knew my mom wanted a pair of running shoes I asked her to order from them. If you know any non-New Yorkers who might want shoes, perhaps forward it along?
It’s even worse for those businesses that aren’t part of a community, like running, because it must be impossible for them to get the word out that they need help. I just wish I had the money to go eat at every tiny restaurant or get something from every tiny store…