Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman,
that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good
for the environment.
The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in
my earlier days."
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care
enough to save our environment for future generations."
She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the
store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and
refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were
that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good
for the environment.
The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in
my earlier days."
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care
enough to save our environment for future generations."
She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the
store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and
refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were
recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and
office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300
horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right.
We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the
throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling
machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our
clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their
brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is
right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room.
And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?),
not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, we blended
and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do
everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we
used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble
wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut
the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by
working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that
operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back
then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a
plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens
with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a
razor instead of throwing away the whole razor because the blade got dull.
But we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to
school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.
We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to
power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to
receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to
find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks
were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in
conservation from a smartass young person.
Remember: Don't make old people mad. We don't like being old in the first
place, and it doesn't take much to piss us off.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and
office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300
horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right.
We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the
throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling
machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our
clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their
brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is
right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room.
And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?),
not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, we blended
and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do
everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we
used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble
wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut
the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by
working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that
operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back
then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a
plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens
with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a
razor instead of throwing away the whole razor because the blade got dull.
But we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to
school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.
We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to
power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to
receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to
find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks
were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in
conservation from a smartass young person.
Remember: Don't make old people mad. We don't like being old in the first
place, and it doesn't take much to piss us off.