We never had a green thing in the old days
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 recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in
our day.
Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we
reusedfor numerous things, most memorable besides household
garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for
our school books.
This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use
by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to
personalize our books.
But too bad we didn't do the green thing back then
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 just because the blade got dull.
But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took thestreetcar 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 burger
joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we older
folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
Please forward this on to another selfish older person who needs a
lesson in
conservation from a smart *** young person....
We don't like being older in the first place, so it doesn't take much to
piss us off.
I just borrowed this from an email, don't know who wrote it.
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