BOS vs. AOS

The Gulf oil spill has reached a point where I wake up each day imagining that it could have just been a bad dream.. The numbers are so staggering that no one seems to be able to fathom what could really happen over the coming months and weeks, even if the spill were to be stopped immediately. If nothing works until the relief wells are dug (sometime in August?) how many more millions of gallons will have escaped?

For years now, I've found myself evaluating films, TV programs, books, etc., on the basis of whether they were written before or after 9/11. That event fundamentally changed the way most Americans view the world. Suddenly we were aware, in a new way, of how quickly lives could be changed forever.

I wonder if we'll look back at this Gulf oil spill in the same way. Will there be our view of the world Before the Oil Spill versus After the Oil Spill? Will we one day talk to our children about the sealife we used to have, the birds, turtles and other wildlife that used to exist along our southern coastline if not most of the Eastern seaboard?

Commentators have noted that this spill may be the straw that breaks our addiction to petroleum products and focuses our attention on other energy-producing possibilities. Perhaps that will be the only positive outcome of this disaster.