WHY SHOULD I SPEND MY VACATION $$$ ON A GULF COAST BEACH VACATION?

[John Kipper]

OK, what I'm going to say might make me sound like a jerk, but here goes:

Last night I was having a heated discussion with my girlfriend , whose sister was planning to spend a week on the Florida panhandle in August (she'd bought tickets before the BP oil spill) and is now looking into canceling her tickets.

My girlfriend thinks her sister should go anyway and show solidarity with the poor folks on the coast, and help them out with her vacation dollars. It's true those poor people need all the help they can get. I'm not arguing that, they've been dealt a hell of a blow and I know business is way down.

My point is this: I work damn hard and get two weeks off a year. When I want a beach, I want to swim. I want to snorkel. I want to dive. If I can't do these things, why should I ruin my hard-earned vacation because BP was too cheap to build the well with a shut-off valve?? If I step in and lend a hand to the folks on the Gulf Coast, I'M ENABLING BP'S IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR and taking up the slack for them, when BP SHOULD BE PAYING THOSE AFFECTED ON THE GULF COAST, not me with my puny vacation dollars.

Does that make sense to anyone? Rosa seems to think I'm an ogre, but to me it's pretty clear: it's not my responsibility to clean up for a corporate giant, and if I do, they're let off the hook one more time. I think our government, espeically under the Bush/Cheney regime, let Big Oil off the hook enough. Let THEM pay. Let THEM take their vacation on fouled beaches. I'm not.

So am I an ogre??? Rosa wants to know!!

[Max Pesling]

Hmm. Tough one, Mr. Kipper. Rosa has a point. Not that you're an ogre, but many people are hurting in an already bad economy and they need all the help they can get. Even if BP shells out, I doubt it will cover the enormous loss of a lost tourist season and likely more.

At the same time, you work hard, you save your money, you need and deserve a quality vacation. You're right, why should you play with tarballs on a beach while BP execs anchor their yachts in Monte Carlo?

Bottom line: you both make a good point. And I'm confused.

[Scott Jones]

Maybe it's a zero sum game. While vacation dollars undoubtedly flowed away from the gulf during the summer, they flowed TO somewhere else- namely, The Carolinas and the beautiful beaches there.
Check it out-
http://www.tripatini.com/profiles/blogs/carolinas-benefiting-from-g...