I AM BP

Am I the only one who is tired of hearing about BP screwing up? (I didn't think so). So tired... and angry. So angry! But what am I doing? No matter how mad I get, I'm doing about as much good as reenacting some drama queen moment from Gone With The Wind. I'm nowhere near the Gulf and do not have the ability to travel there for any length of time. So I'm doing what many people are doing. I'm very busy hating BP. I know I'm in good company... Just go to Ihatebp.com or google your choice of epithets + bp as I did and poof! You will find a cyber-mob of haters are just as fed up with this 90-day heartache as we watch yet more destruction of this planet literally grow before our eyes.

Wasn't it nice for us optimists (hello... are you even still out there?) on Thursday when we had a glimmer of hope that they were finally putting a stop to it with a cap? Of course now it's looking like more bad news because of a possible "seep." Usually it's a pleasure to watch people who make a lot more money than any of us clunk their heads together while looking stupid. Not this time. It's most infuriating when I think about it in terms of my kids. What the hell are they doing wrecking the planet I want my kids to enjoy? The nerve of BP handing my children YEARS of repercussions thanks to their neglect, stupidity and greed. Of course, while I'm growling inside, on the outside I'm likely singing itsy bitsy spider or clapping about someone pooping on the potty. Maybe one of these days when it comes to mind I'll actually ask my son what he thinks BP should do, since it seems to me he's a lot smarter than any of the people they have working on this losing battle.

Then recently one evening I was draining my son's bathwater and taking a moment to breathe as my son did a naked lap around his room. For those who know me, what you're thinking is exactly right. What? You were draining the what from the what? Of course, those of you who know me also know my constant admissions of being a seriously flawed person who isn't always perfect. But as I was watching the water drain, knowing that it's all just going to waste - knowing that I was doing the wrong thing, knowing that I was part of the problem, knowing that I was living in a state with a water shortage on it's hands, knowing that there was something I could have done to prevent waste - I had a thought. I am BP.

Okay, so I'm not an oil company. I'm a mom who lives in a rented apartment with her family and blabs on a blog occasionally and writes silly articles and at times eats more ice cream than she should. But all this energy I'm expending to be mad at BP (unless I head to the gulf and get my hands dirty which is not going to happen because of my obligations at home) is not doing anything. I may not be an oil company, but if I'm not doing what I can to prevent the next disaster, than aren't I a little mini microscopic version of BP? I know the risk I'm taking every time I am too lazy to recycle or waste water just like BP knew the risks they were taking. Hell, I hate them, right? So don't I want to be better than them?

On the car ride home from a day-trip yesterday, I told my husband that I want to recommit ourselves to saving water and anything else we can to do not just save the environment, but also not pull a BP. (Here's where I'm starting) Sure, I would say that we have been doing a lot in this house, but every now and then, it's time to take it up a notch just like BP should have a long long long long time ago. When the next disaster happens, I would really feel terrible if the one I was hating was myself.