Who Cleans The Superbowl?

They say the Superbowl is America's greatest competition.  In other words, it's a great metaphor for America.  

It believes itself to be a huge competition; the best vs the best to see who comes out on top.

But did you ever think how much cooperation goes into making this competition? 

Each team member collaborates with their teammates.  The team collaborates with coaches, trainers, medics, other support staff, and fans.

The arenas they play in are quasi-publicly owned, meaning the citizens helped build them with their tax money.

Do teams arrive by bus?  Driven by a professional driver, who has to gas up occasionally?  And who drove there on publicly-owned streets?  Or maybe they drove themselves on those same streets built by our tax money?  Perhaps in fancy foreign cars imported by longshoremen and merchant mariners?

And some fans drove.  Some fans took a bus or a train.  Some flew in for the event and stayed at a local hotel.  Each has its own critical infrastructure and workers.

The flights involved ticket takers, baggage handlers, and air traffic controllers.  Oh, and pilots and flight attendants, of course.

Restaurants work to feed folks before and after the game.  Mammoth grocery stores and tiny bodegas all sell millions of tons of snack foods for those watching at home.

Some watch by receiving a signal over public airwaves.  Someone is working in those control rooms.  Some get it through an internet service provider who may be using, or piggybacking off public utility lines. 

And it takes power to run the TV and blend those margaritas.  People are hard at work at your local power plant or dam, or fixing power lines torn down by wind and ice.

Uh oh, Uncle Joey drank too much again, and tripped on the coffee table?  Those could be publicly-paid paramedics on their way to help using those pesky public roads again.

And don't forget the janitors at every stage - in the building, cleaning busses trains and airports, they're nearly everywhere.

All so 106 overpaid dudes in tight pants can slam into each other to see who can score the most points. 

The Superbowl isn't America's greatest competition - it's our greatest collaboration. 

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