As I drive down Alabama Highway 43 South I sense that I'm approaching the scenic Mobile Bay. I pass by the familiar stands selling homegrown watermelons and boiled peanuts. In my car I hear the sound of waves crashing and birds chirping. This isn't the sound of nature though. This is a BP commercial. A man with a southern accent much like my own comes on the radio in my Toyota pick up truck assuring me that BP is doing everything it can to fix the “situation” in the Gulf of Mexico. The “situation”? What situation exactly are we talking about here? Oh yes, the one where a greedy and irresponsible multinational corporation spilled over 200,000,000 gallons of toxic crude oil into my Gulf. The Gulf where I spent my summers as a youth building sand castles on its beautiful sugar white beaches. The Gulf in whose crystal clear emerald waters I learned to boogie board. The Gulf that I pulled a behemoth red snapper out of three years ago. The Gulf where my family lives. The Gulf that provides livelihoods for hundreds of thousands of hard working Americans and foreign workers. The Gulf that is currently being destroyed by tens of thousands of barrel's of BP's toxic, disgusting crude oil spilling into it every single day destroying the ecosystem and economy one 55 gallon drum at a time. That “situation”.
All is not lost on the Gulf Coast though. The people here are a hardy bunch. The residents have built their houses and businesses to withstand the destructive winds and water of hurricanes which regularly batter the Gulf Coast. Names like Ivan, Katrina, Opal, and Frederic are notorious in this part of the world. However, this is a new type of disaster for which no one was prepared. Locals know how to batten down their windows and which evacuation route is the quickest route out of town. Such is the irony of this disaster: the only way anyone will survive on the Gulf Coast is if people do not evacuate. What this region desperately needs is for the tourists to keep streaming in to keep the economy pumping.
Enter Jimmy Buffett.
Tens of thousands of sunbathers, beer drinkers, and families recently crowded the beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama to dance the disaster away. Jimmy Buffet, a Gulf Coast native whose sister operates a restaurant/bar in Gulf Shores, decided that what the Gulf needed more than anything right now is a little trip to Margaritaville. Buffett organized and headlined what has to be one of the most successful concerts this region has ever hosted this past weekend. He gave away over 35,000 concert tickets for free to try and help draw people back down to this blighted region. It worked. The beaches were full of “tourists covered in oil” and for a minute it seemed that everything was back to normal. Revelers packed the beaches all day long drinking beer, laying under beach umbrellas, building sand castles, swimming in the Gulf, and soaking in that bountiful Alabama sunshine. Buxom women clad in two piece bikinis danced alongside sunburned men swaying back and forth as Jimmy Buffet cranked out such familiar hits as “Margaritaville”, and “Cheeseburger in Paradise”. Country Music Television (CMT) broadcast the event live with no commercial interruption to a nationwide audience. As Jimmy Buffet sang an updated – and tear jerking – rendition of his song “When the Coast is Clear”, the only thing better would be if we could have been able to go “stick a wine cork in that hole”. Unfortunately, its not that simple.
As I left the Gulf Coast heading north towards my home in Tuscaloosa I reflect back on what I've observed “down at the beach”. The people there are not going to give up on their way of life. They adamantly refuse to just roll over and die. Sure, BP has managed to spill world record setting amounts of oil into one of our region's most treasured assets, but the people of the Gulf will survive. Not only that, the people of the Gulf will thrive again someday. If there is one message I think the people of the Gulf Coast would want you to hear it is “We are open for business!”. People are still on the beaches and the booms are working to a good extent keeping the oil off the beaches most days. On the days when the oil does manage to come ashore it tends to happen at night and the government has clean up crews that clean it up before most tourists ever notice. The drinks are still cold and the women are still hot! So what they really need is for y'all to come on down, have a beer or ten, get sunburned, make a fool of yourself at the world famous Florabama Lounge, buy a t-shirt from Surf Style, eat some oysters at Tacky Jack's, and see what this incredible part of the world has to offer you.
-Joseph Berman
The Gulf Coast is so beautiful and pure, but the spirit of its inhabitants make it paradise. Nicely written Joe. We won't forget them!
ReplyDeleteWait a second, is there a beer cave at that Shell station? that must be the South...
ReplyDeleteNow that the leak is supposedly capped, what are the current clean-up efforts like? Has there been a massive mobilization of labor to aid the gulf coast?
Good work, Berman. keep up the writing.
A good TED talk on the spill:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wimp.com/oilunseen/
I can only provide anecdotal evidence about the clean up laborers. The locals are extraordinarily upset at BP for the way they are handling the hiring of workers. Many local fisherman and shrimpers are being passed over for work in favor of out of towners. Also, BP has not been conducting background checks on any of the people they are shuttling in (yes, they are shuttling people in instead of hiring locals). Nobody in Orange Beach knows who these people are or where they came from. When you see the quality of the people they hire you would be horrified. There have already been several gang fights break out on the beach amongst the workers. A few of them have even been picked up on outstanding charges. My mom recently opened her own real estate office right on the main beach road. She pulls up to her office the other day and was almost too afraid to get out of the car. A group of 20-30 of BPs thuggish workers were hanging out in front of her door. Do you honestly think anyone would get out of their car and come inside when 20+ sketchy looking characters are leaned against the door? She found the boss and screamed at him and made the workers go around back, but still. So, its not enough that BP polluted the ocean with their oil, now they are going to ruin the character of a nice, clean beach community by busing in thousands of sketchy out of towners. Thanks BP.
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