In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she should
bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren’t good for the
environment. The woman apologized to him and explained, “We didn’t have the
green thing back in my day.”
The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. The former generation did
not care enough to save our environment.”
He was right, that generation didn’t have the green thing in its day.
Back then, they returned their 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 they didn’t have the green thing back in that customer’s day.
In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn’t have an escalator in
every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn’t
climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.
But she was right. They didn’t have the green thing in her day.
Back then, they washed the baby’s diapers because they didn’t have the
throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling
machine burning up 220 volts – wind and solar power really did dry the
clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not
always brand-new clothing.
But that old lady is right, they didn’t have the green thing back in her
day.
Back then, they 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 hankerchief, not a screen
the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, they blended and stirred
by hand because they didn’t have electric machines to do everything for you.
When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up
old newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, they didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the
lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by
working so they didn’t need to go to a health club to run on
treadmills that operate on electricity.
But she’s right, they didn’t have the green thing back then.
They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty instead of using a cup or
a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled their
writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the
razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just
because the blade got dull.
But they 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 rode the school bus instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour
taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank
of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they 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 the old folks
were just because they didn’t have the green thing back then?
July 27, 2011 at 5:39 pm
This hilarious but true. The green thing back in my Grandaddy’s day was called frugal. We all laughed as he drove an extra mile to get a bargain at a grocery store, pay his bills in person (stamps and checks cost money), reused the coleslaw containers, supported the local baker and restaurant and refused to throw his beloved salt shaker away. He was green and did not even realize it. Today we are “penny wise pound foolish” Yes it costs money to invest in your own grocery bags but in the long run you save. Perhaps you even have a canvas bag in your closet. Use it, green it and love it.
August 13, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Wow So very true. To think that the younger generation believe that they are green! LOL! 🙂
August 17, 2011 at 3:15 am
Wow so very true. Thank you this made me really think and examine my own life.