Orange Beach, Alabama – You Need To Read This!

When I was in my early teens or maybe even my preteens I traveled to Orange Beach, Alabama. My youth group and I had gone to attend a Christian conference of sorts. The speakers there were very moving and enjoyable.

While I got a great deal out of the conference, the most memorable thing I think was the heat. Well the heat, a pair of jeans, and the BP oil spill.

Growing up in Missouri I thought I was fairly accustomed to the heat, I didn’t like it but I thought I could deal with it. Well, I was partially right, the heat wasn’t too awfully bad in Alabama. The humidity though? Girl, boy, man, woman, child I’ll tell you what; if you’re not used to it, it will knock you on your behind.

I felt like I was walking under a misting system every time I stopped outside of our condominium. Even though it was a shock, after a period of adjustment the wall humidity became quite pleasant. Almost like stepping into a hot tub every time you went outside, uncomfortable at first then relaxing.

Jeans, how much does a pair cost? What is a good average price for jeans in your opinion? I pose these questions because in my world the average price sits around 70 dollars. I found out just how different my world was from other places.

In between seminars and speakers, we would frequent the boutiques and shopping centers near our condominium. At one boutique I spotted a pair of odd-looking jeans, I thought they looked weird and became curious as to how much someone would have to pay for them.

My jaw hit the floor as I read the price tag stating that they cost 500$. I couldn’t believe a pair of jeans could be so expensive. I can still hardly believe it. While I would never pay such a price for jeans obviously some people will since they are on the market. And to those people, I tip my hat and say “if you’re able to afford those and find them worth it, you go right ahead”.

Now arriving the last and third thing I mentioned, is the BP oil spill. Earlier that year the deepwater horizon had exploded and sank leaving large amounts of oil spilling into the ocean. When it originally happened I heard about it and was mildly horrified. At the same time though, this had happened so far from me, that it didn’t really hit me what had happened.

Until I arrived at Orange Beach, AL fully expecting and excited to swim only to see beach closed signs lining the shores. Not only those but also biohazard warnings. As I walked on the beach, looking down as the orange, oily water washed up over my feet, it hit home. How bad the deepwater horizon incident had been, and how much it affected the environment and people.

Thankfully a large oil spill like that has not happened since. Hopefully those involved learned from their mistakes and provided a lesson to others so that they too can learn.