Knickers in a Twist

Our friends across the pond in Great Britain have their "knickers in a twist" over the bashing BP is justifiably taking in the US for the environmental disaster the mammoth oil company caused in the Gulf of Mexico. "Knickers in a twist" is British slang for being in a difficult or awkward situation.

We'd say between a rock and a hard place. That's pretty much where the people who live and work on the gulf coast find themselves as oil continues to gush from the ruptured BP well killing wildlife, spoiling beaches and mangroves and destroying livelihoods.

Not surprisingly, this environment calamity, possibly the worst in history, has everyone screaming for someone to blame. Even the usually level-headed President Obama, in the frustration of helplessness, wants to know "who's ass to kick." A string of investigations in Congress and the Justice Department will eventually point out the culprits, but it's safe to assume that BP and some of its top brass will be at the head of the list.

Not fair, say many of our friends in England, who hold BP in high esteem as a pillar of their economy and a generous payer of large dividends to pension-holders. Many Brits think our officials are over-reacting and even anti-British in holding BP so harshly accountable.

Folks in the four gulf coast states that are most seriously affected by the torrent of oil are rightfully questioning BP's generosity or, at least, its timeliness in providing relief where it's needed.

In Florida along, more than 10,000 claims for lost income have already been filed with the company and, as of this past Friday, only 2,400 checks had been written for a total of $7.8 million. The company has also come up with $50 million for Florida to advertise its tourism product that has been largely unspoiled until now, but the state's leaders know that amount is like spitting in the ocean -- no pun intended. They are demanding billions of dollars more to make up for the anticipated widespread economic loss.

Clearly, tourism in Florida, which was on the mend in the first quarter of 2010, is now, again, as fragile as the oil-laden birds that are being pulled out of the muck. Our British friends and all us Yanks should, therefore, straighten out our Knickers and hope that cooler heads repair this environmental and human disaster as soon as possible.

Otherwise, the many British vacationers Florida hosts each year will be taking home tar balls along with keepsakes from the new Wizarding World of their fictional countryman, Harry Potter, and the older, but still popular, dream world of Disney's Magic Kingdom.

And, That's That...