Some days ago I sent this comment in to Mark Bitten's "Minimalist" column on the NYT. I really didn't think he'd post it- but he did. (The column it was in response to is worth reading if you're a burger fan- he's a heck of a writer.)
My tummy has been giving me a bad time since September. Whatever it is acts like "stomach flu", but at this point, I'm pretty sure it isn't. At kind of random intervals, I'll throw up thoroughly; for no apparent reason; which is followed by about 2 days of 23 hours of sleep, a couple wobbly days, then a week or so of slight nausea, low energy, and an IQ of 78.
That's the real reason I'm so quiet here. I keep thinking it has to go away, but it doesn't. Next step is the doctor, I guess, which I'm dreading; having spent months in doctors' offices and labs being tested for weird symptoms; almost never with any resolution.
And the "it's Crunchy's fault" part- it's incredibly embarrassing for me to mumble about tummy aches, when she is dealing; literally heroically, with real illness. I feel like an ass even mentioning my piddly stuff. So, I've been quiet about it.
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Meanwhile. I spend a fair number of hours perusing the web, and I sometimes have enough functioning brain cells that I can respond well, when appropriately stimulated.
Here is the ACTION part.
Anybody out there pissed at BP? Like to do something about it besides t-shirts?
I made this comment over on TAE yesterday: (Incidentally, the opening essay is really worth reading, though it will not cheer you up.)
Carpe- you know what would be VASTLY more effective and valuable than a simple "boycott"?
A community response. The owners of BP gas stations are already loudly explaining that the boycott doesn't hurt BP - but it really hurts the small-guy owner.
This is likely very true. So-
Get all the potential boycotters together- sign them up- then send a good committee of 3 very friendly and diplomatic community people to meet with each and every BP station owner.
I guarantee they ain't happy with BP neither.
Tell them- "If you dump your BP franchise- we'll bring the local TV crews, and help you tear down your BP signs. And everybody on this list will promise on TV to buy their gas from YOU, from now on- and ask their neighbors, friends, and family to do the same.
"We want BP OUT of our community- but we really want you to stay part of it."
Now THAT would make headlines. And communities.
A community response. The owners of BP gas stations are already loudly explaining that the boycott doesn't hurt BP - but it really hurts the small-guy owner.
This is likely very true. So-
Get all the potential boycotters together- sign them up- then send a good committee of 3 very friendly and diplomatic community people to meet with each and every BP station owner.
I guarantee they ain't happy with BP neither.
Tell them- "If you dump your BP franchise- we'll bring the local TV crews, and help you tear down your BP signs. And everybody on this list will promise on TV to buy their gas from YOU, from now on- and ask their neighbors, friends, and family to do the same.
"We want BP OUT of our community- but we really want you to stay part of it."
Now THAT would make headlines. And communities.
The reader response has been good; and after thinking it over, I still think it's good. Somebody should, like- do it.
And I thought of something to add to the scenario- the communities could help the ExBP stations- form a new chain; recognizable as Ex BP. Should get them even more customers. Finding a new supplier for gasoline is not a problem; it just has to be done.
And a positive outcome, instead of many many unhappy people, and ruined small businesses.
Ok, now. My readers here have a higher propensity for ACTION than many. Make my tummy happy- and somebody do this.
:-)
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11 comments:
For those of us certified in de-oiling wildlife, I think we're feeling forgotten. Just because we're a few hours from the coast and in a state yet to be effected (TX) doesn't mean we're not waiting for the phone to ring. The joys of "don't call us, we'll call you' in action.
Love the "ex-BP" idea!
great idea. I'm passing it on.
Hi Greenpa,
In 1997 I had what I thought was the 24-hour flu. Three weeks later, I had it again. How odd, I thought. Then another three weeks later or so, again, only it lasted 2 days. This went on for another two-three months, each bout longer than the last until the final one lasted about 8 days. Following the second or third bout, I had gone to the doctor, who did stool cultures that came back negative for everything. My doctor decided it was psychological (excitable female, you know) and referred me to a psychiatrist. Finally, during the last bout, which occurred while I was away from home on a business trip, I started scheduling doctors' appointments from across the country, including one with a GI I had seen before. When I saw him a week later, he ordered a colonoscopy. After the procedure he told me "You have a healthy looking colon, but we did biopsy a couple of patches way up at the top." A few days later, we had the results. Salmonella. I was one of the "lucky few" who contract it but whose bodies don't purge the bug in one ugly swoop. He prescribed the proper antibiotics and it went away. My regular doctor showed me my earlier stool test results again, showing that the salmonella test 10 weeks earlier had been negative - it just hadn't registered between bouts. In the 3.5 months or so I was dealing with this, my weight had dropped from 133 to 113, and I had not completed a full week of work once.
Love that idea! Wish I wasn't on maternity leave, or I'd put my students on the case. Teenagers have tons of energy and the ideals to believe they really can save the planet. I think I'll forward this to my substitute.
Are there any environmentally responsible oil/gasoline companies out there?
It seems to me people just want the benefits while hollering about the costs.
No blood for oil, no deep-water drilling, but still give me my gasoline, plastics, and pharmaceuticals? And cheaply? Come on people, get real. Prices will be paid one way or another until the addiction itself can be kicked.
Oh bummer about the gut troubles, Greenpa - I hope you get good answers and soon.
Just tossing out some potentially helpful herbal ideas (you may already have tried, but hey) ... only useful as symptomatic treatment, but not puking is usually better than the alternative, I figure.
Yarrow (which tastes rather yukky in tea, but is okay if you make some other brew like raspberry leaves or regular black tea and soak the yarrow as well) helps ease queasiness pretty fast - you can tincture it as well for 'daily doses' but I personally find the tea works better on an immediately churning gut (use leaves & flowers). Wild Lettuce (available dried from Ricthers) is a great sedative and supposed to soothe gut issues - I use it to sleep, tinctured in alcohol along with catnip. (dried leaves, just taken as tea or soaked in booze for a few days & shaken daily). Haven't had a queasy gut since I got some, but will be adding it to my yarrow/clover/raspberry mix next time I do.
Best wishes for healing!
don't be a dumbshit! this has hung on way too long. if you are sick more than 2 weeks, are dehydrated, iq 78, or fever over 101 (as an adult), it is time to try something different.
i hope it is just something like salmonella is all that it is! i won't even write what it could be. and if you up and die, i won't get to read your wonderful posts. so take care of this! now!
as an aside, another "tummy tea" we use is fennel seed, bashed a bit in mortar and pestle or whatever, chamomille flowers, mint leaves with a little honey (opt) to cover the bitter taste of the fennel seed.
emmer
I don't want to bankrupt BP; their stock dividends pay our house taxes. They weren't ALWAYS BP. They bought out Standard/Amoco Oil (for whom I worked many, many years).
Hope you feel better soon, but in the meantime, what do you think about this cleanup idea?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAZtJB9KKeg&feature=player_embedded
Sure sounds good TO ME. Farmers in Texas, Louisiana, etc. can bring in their hay and take home something they can use to heat their homes next winter.
I think curiousalexa said it best. Prices will be paid.
And we will go a usual on as long as we can get our fixes cheaply and nimby.
Okay, dumbass. Go to the doctor. Send me your medical bills if it's a cost issue. This has gone on way too long and hopefully it's not gone on so long that it's going to be a bigger issue. In other words, go see a gastroenterologist already.
Greenpa -- go get checked out...NOW, please. Emphasis on, ---> NOW.
There, I feel better.
Your turn......
Jolie Angelina ;)
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