Since the pelican story appeared in the paper I’ve been receiving phone calls and e-mails from people asking me what they can do to help. I’m not sure why they called me except I’m the most opinionated person I know so maybe they thought I would have some ideas. I do not. I feel helpless.
I’ve watched this mess on TV. I’ve talked to lots of folks, some here and some in Alabama. I have done research on the Internet. I’ve read everything I can find. I already knew a lot of stuff, because I know the area. I know some fishermen.  I know folks who work on the rigs. I know the people; I’m related to a bunch of them. I know the wildlife. I could be related to some of them too.  I know the water. I was raised in it. Still I have no idea what to tell people when they call me. Since there is not enough room in this paper for me to elaborate on all the things I don’t know, I will just tell you a few things I have learned.

First: This is not a political problem; politicians cannot fix it. They will run around on TV making lots of noise. Noise doesn’t fix anything. Noise is just noisy. If you didn’t vote for the aforementioned noisemaker, you are not going to listen to what he has to say anyway. Regardless of which party you subscribe to, someone will find a way to point the finger at the other party.  It’s what we do. It’s the American way. Heaven forbid the other guys will come up with a plan that helps and then we might have to work together. Perish the thought.
Note: If you have empirical evidence — like a video of some politician from the other party pouring oil over the side of a boat — please call the police. Blogging about it doesn’t help.
Second: Everything you are hearing from BP is a lie.  That’s a fact.  But please do not boycott them. You are just hurting yourself and your neighbors. BP stations are independent franchises. The gas they are selling probably didn’t even come from a BP well. BP won’t even notice if you boycott a local BP station but that store will shut down and your local community will lose a business. Besides, we want BP to have enough money to pay for the mess they made, not give them more excuses not to.
Next: People constantly ask if I’m going down to help. I’m going down, but I doubt there is much I can do to help. The people I talk with want to help. How can they, you ask? I don’t know. I wish I could give you an easy answer. I would love to say “Go, run down there. Get yourself a condo, take a stroll on the beach, eat some gumbo, have a beer. The beach has been cleaned. The water’s fine. Take a dip.” I would tell you that if I thought it would help. I do not. I personally don’t think it’s a good idea to have anyone swimming in the toxic soup of oil and dispersants. Even if the beach looks clean it can still be contaminated. Is it good to have the mess trampled on and tracked all over what’s left? How can it be?
Oil and dispersants are toxic, they will make you sick. How sick will they make you? I don’t know. Would I let my kids swim in it? Nope, I would not.
Next Next: I’ve learned they do need more animal rescue professionals down there. We could all grab some dish soap and head down to wash pelicans. Maybe we can save a dolphin. I saw a guy try to save one on TV just the other day. I saw this sweet man crying as he held a baby dolphin. Didn’t he know he was supposed to walk away? That’s what they tell you to do when you find a sick or wounded animal. What human being could ever walk away from that?
The crews who are hired to clean the beach are told to never, ever approach the wildlife. My brother lost his job on the boats because of the oil. He has to feed his family so he is working to clean the beach. He was told if he saw any oil-covered animals, “Do not try to help. Alert the supervisor and the supervisor will call the experts.” Every day he finds animals.  The experts are almost never in time to save them. Maybe they can’t be saved but it’s still best to let the experts handle it. I don’t know what to do.
Watching a few episodes of Flipper on TV did not qualify me to be a marine biologist. The affected animals are not TV animals. They are not Sea World exhibits. They are wild animals who are panicked. They are sick. They are hungry. They are dying. At any other time the guy I saw on TV would have been arrested for just touching that dolphin. The baby dolphin died. Most do. Would it help if we went down there? I have no idea what to do, but I have learned dolphins don’t die quietly. They scream. Maybe trying to save one dolphin is enough.
Next to Last: Why don’t we all just jump on a plane and go down to help clean up? Well, BP would probably love that because if we all volunteer there would be no reason for them to pay the locals whose lives and livelihoods they have destroyed. I can’t go down there and take work from people. They can’t fish, they can’t feed their families. They want to work. They need the income. Maybe BP should just write a check to the people they have put out of work. Let the beach heal. Let the people who love it, take care of it.
Finally: I’m going home. I have to. But what can you do?
There are some really smart people up here. Send your ideas to the folks who are trying to fix it. You might just figure it out.
Find a charity that you know, that you trust and that has proven they will actually use the money to help the people and the animals that need it. Write a check.
Go down there if you want to. Play some golf, buy some souvenirs. Hang out at the Pony, have a beer. Tell them I sent you.
Feeling helpless sucks.

 Linda Davis