Who Are You?

I've just spent a bit of my day listening to our President outline his plan in regards to cleaning up the oily mess that BP has made of the Gulf Coast.

Let me come clean about a few things before I continue:
(1) I don't enjoy politics.
(2) I don't follow politicians.
(3) I DO believe in the power of voting.
(4) I DO educate myself on things before I check any boxes on a ballot.
(5) I don't make it a habit to watch every "town hall" meeting.
(6) I also don't spend my time listening to pundits or that sort of thing. It's just not how I would enjoy spending my time.
and
(7) I have spent enough time in the Gulf Coast to see - first hand - that it's been treated like the red-headed, left-handed step-child of this country. Furthermore, the last time I saw that area getting the short end of a barbed stick, it sickened me so much that I pretty much MADE my employer pony up money, time, and effort to respond.

So back to the President ...

I was listening - as unbiased as I could be and withholding judgement ..... right up until he said the following (and I looked this up to make sure I got it right): "My job right now is just to make sure everybody in the Gulf understands: This is what I wake up to in the morning, and this is what I go to bed at night thinking about. The spill."

Uh huh.

I can't say that I agree with that statement. Is that honestly the biggest, most important job he has? That everyone in the Gulf know he's thinking about their region? Does that stop animals and plants from being poisoned or waters from being fouled?

I would rather have heard something along the lines of "my job right now is to make sure that any need in the Gulf region with regards to this crisis, be it financially based, time based, energy based, tool based, organizationally based, education based, response based, cleanup based, prevention based ... whatever that area needs ... my job is to get those items to them today. Now." But no dice. Awwww well ...

What really got my goat though - what REALLY spun me up - was listening to all these talking heads afterwards with their "we need to get this cleaned up" and "they should just get started" and "you can clean up the beaches today", etc.

Yanno the problem with those statements? The problem is in the "we", "they", and "you" part.

The last time I heard this sort of talk, I spent 6 weeks of my life over a two-year period doing what"we", "they", and "you" said should be done. Me. I did it. I put my life on hold and got on a plane. I changed my career path and signed up for a 65% pay cut. I missed out on major family events and begged for airline miles to go there not once but six ... SIX times and you know something else? I got it done, damnit, and while we're at it hey - I didn't see your ass down there, Mr. "I have all the answers and now here's Tracy with the weather". Where the hell were you then? In fact, there's still cleanup from Katrina to be done so don't let me stop you - get going and you can still get involved in THAT disaster today.


*exhale*


So just remember ... before YOU or THEY or WE come up with these quick and easy answers to things we read about or listened to for twenty whole minutes but actually have never seen with our own eyes, make sure YOU know who the THEY is ... or WE may tell you to shut the hell up and just do it ourselves.