Guest 643- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,321
Checking out at the supermarket recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. I 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 about one thing-our generation didn't have the green thing in "Our" day. So what did we have back then? After some reflection and soul-searching on "Our" day, here's what I remembered we did have....
Back then, we returned milk bottles, pop 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 repeatedly. 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 nappies because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 240 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 Wales. In the kitchen, we blended & 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 petrol 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 water 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 we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums 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?
There's always a little truth behind every "Just kidding", a little emotion behind every "I don't care" and a little pain behind every "I'm ok".
Guest 672- Registered: 3 Jun 2008
- Posts: 2,119
Some good points there Jaqui.
You just made me feel very old, do I say thank you?
grass grows by the inches but dies by the feet.
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
jacqui
whilst i'm sure this cashier was well intentioned im not so sure her comments were right to be speaking to customers the company would like to see return the following day.
there are arguments for and against the green issue and probably recycling helps in some small as does bringing -your own bags.
but with countries such as the USA and china polluting the atmosphere every day of the week, maybe this cashier should concentrate her ideas in the bigger picture.
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
Spot on Jacqui.
Guest 643- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,321
Keith - I didn't compose this, I copied it from the internet!
However, it is very true. It points out how back then we didn't pollute our planet so much because we didn't have the "labour saving" devices we have now. We didn't use as much gas and electricity and fuel as we do now. We used our legs instead of driving, we passed clothes down etc.
If you read the article again and this time try to take it in and digest it you will see how true it is, as others have said. Shimples!!
There's always a little truth behind every "Just kidding", a little emotion behind every "I don't care" and a little pain behind every "I'm ok".
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
Very true, Jacqui, something for us all to ponder.
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Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
I guessed it was from the internet, but it is still very true and thank you Jacqui for posting it.
Would we all want to go back to the "good old days" ? I doubt it, but all can, many do, do our bit.
Roger
