When you’re cold and hungry, your only focus is to get warm and to get food. Although a distraction would be nice, there is nothing else that will ease the pain of being cold and hungry, including the New York City Marathon that was scheduled for Sunday, November 4, 2012. The people who are still suffering from Hurricane Sandy need to celebrate their power being restored and not celebrate someone’s athletic success. This is not to belittle the runners but Sunday was not the time, as Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York Road Runners officials came to realize. Even when the power is restored and people resume their normal lives, the homeless will continue to suffer from the cold and from hunger. Shelters are available and there are many resources to aid the homeless. Nevertheless, being cold and hungry, whether it’s temporary or permanent, hurts the same whoever you are. A natural disaster does not discriminate.
The photograph below was taken on 126th Street in Harlem, in 1985. I don’t know what circumstances created this gentleman’s situation, but he graciously granted me permission to take his photograph. That was twenty-seven years ago and I’m certain that many have since taken his place. On Tuesday, voters will have sorted through all the rhetoric before they decide which lever to pull to select the next president of the United States of America. Although much has been promised by President Obama and by Governor Romney, only time will tell which promises will be kept. When you place your hand on the lever this Tuesday, will you remember the rhetoric or this image?
(c) 2012 Linda Stone Cohen All Rights Reserved
126th Street, Harlem 1985
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