Are you boycotting BP stations/should boycotters contact their BP station in person to complain?

[LoZoccolo]

[louis-t]

1. I complain by not going to BP stations.

Simple.

[jobycom]

12. Okay, here's a hypothetical. Say you found out that the owner of your local BP station

was a progressive liberal who supported progressive causes, paid his employees a living wage, and was vegetarian and all good things progressive, but the owner of the non-BP station on the corner was a Glen Beck Republican who drive his Hummer, towing a boat of course, to a ranch and shot captive bear and moose every weekend.

Which would you patronize then, especially realizing that the other station is probably buying gas from BP, too?

I don't really care about making any point (could go either way, really), I'm just curious how people make their spending decisions.

[louis-t]

14. Hmmm, good point.

One problem at a time. That Glenn Beck loving bastard is next, though.

[jobycom]

16. Ha! Good response! nt

[RKP5637]

17. You make a good point, because we generally do not know enough about who

owns the station and the circumstances. I also don't know if it's justified to screw the little guy that might own a BP station because of the F-ups at levels so far above them. Also, the gas at a BP station well might not have even come from BP.

[elocs]

33. If you had regularly patronized a BP station it is likely you got to know the people working there,

maybe some of them for years, hearing about their kids or how they are struggling to get by. They might be a neighbor or a friend. What kind of person could feel righteous about boycotting a BP station if those kind of little people are hurt and are laid off or lose their jobs?

Also, many seem to strut and act all noble about boycotting BP stations when the rarely, if ever, even patronize one. It doesn't bother them if the little people lose jobs since what is important is that they have their jobs.

It's also immaterial whether the station sells BP gas (yes, real BP gas, specially refined from specific BP pumped oil and then sent to their stations) since the point is to feel noble and righteous about their mistaken belief they are bringing BP to its knees (like if they really could that would help BP pay all the costs and damages they will need to pay for years).

[RKP5637]

34. Yep, the small guy will end up hurt as usual. IMO the real culprits are immune

from protests of this nature. It gives instant gratification by protesting, but the target has been missed, and the little guy ends up wounded.

[elocs]

35. The big guys usually walk away with millions of dollars.

Instant gratification boycott is what it is all about without thinking of the Law of Unintended Consequences. The goal seems to be to hurt somebody even if it is the little guy.

I heard a story the other week on NPR with an Hispanic woman who owned a BP station with her husband and how they struggled to get by and the boycott hurt them and reduced their revenue where she needed to come up with $9000 for the week and did not have it. She was in tears.

Again, how could anyone feel noble about a boycott that in reality hurts little people without impacting BP much at all?

[noamnety]

42. Is that the same thing you tell people who drive less or give up their cars?

"What kind of person could feel righteous about using less gasoline if little people are hurt and are laid off or lose their jobs?"

[LanternWaste]

20. Realizing that every major boycott/strike has touched...

Realizing that every major boycott/strike has touched even the most innocent, I imagine we weigh the immediate negative versus the greater good of the agenda.

When I boycotted Apartheid during my HS/college years, I imagine a few good men were indeed affected by it, but I believed that the greater good outweighed any immediate and negative consequences.

I suppose in my case, my spending habits were predicated on my ethical beliefs.

[jobycom]

26. I would argue in the case of the Apartheid boycott

that there was a clear goal to the boycott, and that goal was to improve lives, and that the boycott itself had a chance of success.

With the BP boycott, I see no goal, no improved lives, and no real hope of accomplishing anything. I see mostly people just mad and trying to find someone to punish, without fully considering who is being punished. There is no belief that boycotting BP will speed up the cleanup or containment (quite the opposite, since if it worked, BP could file bankruptcy and leave us with nothing), or will prevent future problems, or will improve anyone's life.

Not really saying I don't understand it. I'm from the coast, and am going back to visit this weekend, and I'm sure I won't stop at a BP station along the way or while I'm there. If they had them here, I wouldn't stop at them. It's not really a boycott, but it's hard to explain the difference. I guess it's like someone hurting your family--you wouldn't be friends with that person afterwards, even if they were decent people, even if you didn't care if others were friends with them.

I'm just struggling here, I guess. I have no real love for BP, but I see a lot of anger, and to me I don't see any focus to it. The victims of the anger are poor working people, while the causes of the anger aren't even going to be touched by it. There's no point where we can say "They've met our demands, the boycott is lifted," so there's no pressure on BP to do anything about it. As far as I can tell, the boycott is indefinite, and the only goal is to hurt BP. And I don't even think BP is the guiltiest party in all of this. Halliburton and Transocean were as guilty, if not more so, and the biggest culprit to me was Bush and Cheney for their negligence of regulations and inspection. And I'm not free from anger at Obama, for not ordering the improvement of those inspections, since he had been in office over a year--he's not high on the list, btw, but he is on it.

There's another factor, being from that area. My father worked on offshore rigs, as did several of my friends and their fathers. I probably would have, too, if I hadn't gone straight to college. I know what those rigs mean to the jobs and economy in that area, and I know about the dangers of spills and explosions. I remember as a kid being scared every time the phone rang when my father was on duty, probably not unlike a police officer's family. I know the attention to safety they paid on those rigs, because my father was constantly talking about the inspections and the regulations, both governmental and company-originated.

Someone wasn't doing their job, and it wasn't just BP. In fact, BP wasn't even high on that list, since Transocean was most responsible for rig safety. Eleven lives were obliterated when that thing exploded. A lot of kids got that call I was so terrified of getting as a kid. That didn't have to happen, but everyone from two presidents on down to the rig managers seemed to have decided those lives and that grief was worth the savings. Now we're trying to punish one culprit, and it just looks arbitrary and pointless from here. I'd love to see that energy and anger directed at those who failed in their jobs, but it seems easier for some around here to target a corporate logo rather than investigating further. A corporation is just a legal structure--no personality, no soul, no way to really hold it responsible, other than financially. But there are real people who made decisions to risk this, and aside from Elizabeth Birnbaum (cudos to Obama for that), no one is being held accountable.

It's like the Coast--where I grew up, where I still wish I lived, where all my family and most of my friends are--got screwed by Bush and Cheney and Transocean and some bigwigs at BP and even by Obama's lax attention to detail, and in response people want to punish the Coast worse by eliminating drilling jobs, boycotting local businesspeople, shunning the seafood and tourism that keeps the area alive, and basically screwing it worse. And no one really sees that.

So that's my point, I guess. What is this boycott about? It's not about solving the problem because it doesn't even address a problem. It's not about punishing the people most responsible, because it doesn't. It's not about punishing people who deserve it because that's not who it affects, either. What is it about? I'm not trying to say "don't do it," I'm really trying to say "make it mean something."

[LanternWaste]

27. That's a subjective interpretation I agree with

"that there was a clear goal to the boycott, and that goal was to improve lives, and that the boycott itself had a chance of success."

That's a subjective interpretation I agree with.



"I see mostly people just mad and trying to find someone to punish, without fully considering who is being punished."

And that's a subjective interpretation I don't agree with. I perceive this more as people (mainly as individuals at this point) simply holding to the strengths of their convictions, and issuing statements of belief predicated on those convictions.

"I'm really trying to say 'make it mean something'."

I happen to believe that does mean something-- maybe not on a macro-economic scale, but still full of meaning, conviction and intent.

[jobycom]

28. Then explain the meaning, in a way that makes it worth hurting the people I grew up with.

That's what I'm asking. What does it mean? What's the goal? Because the result is a lot of working stiffs who have been shafted by the spill are being shafted again by the response to the spill. Tell me what it means. What is the conviction and intent? It's got to be more than "We won't give BP any money because we are mad at them." That's not conviction or intent, that's just anger. What is the goal?

[PBS Poll-435]

2. I only go to ARCO now. They seem safe and responsible.

:P

[bif]

8. BP also owns these brands...

Castrol, Arco, Aral, am/pm, Amoco, Wild Bean Cafe .Deutsche gegen ARAL Vereinigten. And I believe they own Speedway.

[PBS Poll-435]

10. Missed the sarcasm, I guess

NFS.

[bif]

13. Totally missed it.

A lot of folks don't know how many brands they own.

[unapatriciated]

11. yep, it's safe to say they are BP

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/27/drivers-shun-bp-gas-station-owners-want-service-bp-help-business/


sorry for the fox link ;-)


edited to add I didn't miss the :sarcasm:

[jobycom]

3. How widespread are they, anyway? We don't even have them around here.

I never realized they were that big a chain. The only time I see them is when I go home to Mississippi, or when I travel on the east coast.

I was in Ocean Springs a couple weekends ago. The loneliest place in town seemed to be the BP station. I swear I saw Amelia Earhart and Elvis talking under the awning.

[Oregone]

4. Im driving down to all the BP stations to complain in person

[pitohui]

5. i'm not actually aware of any BP stations in my area

be that as it may, believe it or not, BP is already aware that people are not happy abt the oil spill, so i'm not sure why complaining to a gas station owner, most likely some small independent dude who happens to have a contract to sell that brand of gasoline, would have any positive effect

i wish people would find USEFUL things to do w. their time, money, & attention, but barring anything useful to do, consider the words of the ancient greeks or the buddha (i've heard it attributed to both) "first do no harm"

[Lifelong Protester]

6. I don't want to use BP but in our small town it is the only gas station

and it employs several local folks who would be hurt (read: out of a job soon) if we boycotted the product. But I guess it doesn't mean we couldn't set up a picket/protest as a symbolic act. It's a conundrum.

[Ozymanithrax]

7. I buy the cheapest gas in my area...so BP gas stations are not a

consideration.

If one of them sells gas cheaper than Costco, AM/PM, or the PX, I will go there.

Those three sources have the lowest prices and are always within 5 cents a gallon of each other.

[MoonRiver]

9. I boycott BP, all Japanese, Norwegian and Icelandic products.

BP is boycotted because of the oil spill; others because they still hunt whales. VIVA SEA SHEPHERD!!! :kick:

[bif]

19. Does your boycott include Bjork?

[MoonRiver]

21. What's that?

[KonaKane]

23. "Who's" that. She is a famous Icelandic singer/songwriter.

[MoonRiver]

40. Oh,ok. Never heard of her. That's no surprise though. I'm not much into music anymore.

Guess that qualifies for boycotting her. :D

[stray cat]

15. You should yell at the poor guy pumping the gas trying to run the business!

or the cashier or the mechanics - any working person you can find and tell them you are personally going to make sure they lose their job!

[KonaKane]

24. Makes a ton of sense doesnt it.

But save your breath....the boycotters can only hear their own voices.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

30. Straw caricature is made of straw.

Will you cry and tear up your clothes when you see people filling up at Shell, Citgo etc?

[Obamanaut]

18. no

[LWolf]

22. Other.

As far as I know, I don't have a BP station to boycott or to call.

[TexasObserver]

25. Ridiculous to suggest anyone at BP needs to be told.

We vote with our dollars every day. That's one point of a boycott. Let them measure the loss in dollars and customers, and figure it out.

This fiction of some struggling mom and pop trying to keep their center open is a bit silly. The overwhelming odds are these owners are your typical Republican, except with a lot more assets and money than most.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

29. A friendly suggestion for the owner to drop the franchise would be nice.

Gives him an out to escape the boycott too.

[KonaKane]

32. I'm sure they will drop everything and close shop.

After all, every station owner has another living just sitting on a shelf waiting to be activated.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

36. I'm sure no business gives any weight to any customer suggestions, ever.

:eyes:

[KeyWester]

31. Ya know ,

I don't think there are any BP stations here on Key West , But there are plenty of "Fuck BP" shirts for sale on Duval st.

[ceile]

37. Not sure that I have BPs in my town n/t

[tammywammy]

38. There aren't any BP stations around here

So I'm not using them.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

39. Gasp! How horrible! Your neighborhood makes Nordic Baby Jesus cry!

Next you'll tell me there's no Wal-Marts. That would make the region squarely demonic!

[taterguy]

41. I gave up my car for the month

But I reserve the right to stop at BP for smokes & beer.