Checking out
at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she
should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the
environment.
The woman
apologized to the young girl and explained, "We didn't have this 'green
thing' back in my earlier days."
The young
clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care
enough to save our environment for future generations."
The older
lady agreed but replied "But our generation didn't have the "green thing" in its
day."
The older
lady went on to explain:
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 reused for numerous
things. Most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper
bags to make 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 on the brown paper bags. 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.
Again she said to the clerk: “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 220volts. 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 you're right, young lady - 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 peanuts 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 you’re
right; we sure didn't have the "green thing" back then.
We drank
from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a paper or Styrofoam 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 blade in a razor instead of
throwing away the whole razor just 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 in the
family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the "green
thing." 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 23,000 miles out in space in order to
find the nearest burger joint.
But isn't it
sad the current generation laments how wasteful WE old folks were just because
we didn't have the "green thing" back then?
Think about
it……
BTW - Seniors
don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss ‘em
off... especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make
change without the cash register telling them how much, or tell what time it is
if the clock isn’t digital!!
I got this in an email..... I LOVE IT!
