When at a store checkout the young tattoo'd cashier with the died purple hair and nose ring suggested to the older woman that she should bring her own shopping bags in future because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologised and explained,
“We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlier days.” The cashier 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 only returned milk bottles to the farm/co-op, pop bottles and beer bottles to the shop. They sent them back to the plant to be washed, sterilized and refilled, so the same bottles could be used over and over again. So they really were recycled. 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 blunt. we brushed our teeth with a hand held brush instead of a motorised gadget
But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.
We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator or elevator in every shop and office building. We walked to the shop and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two streets.
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 2200 watts; wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me–down clothes and shoes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. We didn't whinge and cry because our perfectly good shoes didn't have the right name on them and no one was beaten up and their shoes stolen..... our sunglasses would last many years and they didn't break or scratch easily and we didn't replace them every time a movie star wore a different brand or different color..... smokers used to refill lighters.... not just buy disposable ones and throw them away when they 'ran out'.....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. The TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the county of Yorkshire. In the kitchen we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. We washed dishes by hand because we didn't have another energy gobbling, 2000w machine to do it, we wrung our clothes with hand rollers and pegged them on a wire..... When we packaged a fragile item to send in the post, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not polystyrene or plastic bubble wrap and foam twisties to clutter up landfill after one use. Things we bought were in a cardboard box or wrapped in brown paper, not in vacuum formed plastic and high dencity foam.... which also gets discarded to landfill.... 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. We took stuff to the tip and often bought back more than we took
But she’s right.
We didn’t have the green thing back then.
We drank water from a fountain or a tap when we were thirsty instead of demanding a plastic bottle
flown in from another country. We accepted that a lot of food was
seasonal and didn’t expect to have out of season products
flown thousands of air miles around the world then moan if there was a spot on it or it was a bit soft from being frozen for however long... We actually cooked food that didn’t come out of a packet, tin or plastic wrapping and we could even wash our own vegetables and chop our own salad.
But we didn’t have the green thing back then.Back then, if our car broke down or needed fixing, we fixed it....We might have the same car for 10 years or more...... if the motor blew up, we rebuilt it, with household items, if the element in the kettle died, we replaced the element.... We bought a washing machine or fridge expecting it to last 20 years.... if the door seal perished, we replaced it.... if it frosted up, we thawed it (or chiselled out the ice) if we had something that did a job and it broke, we would repair it.... not just throw it to landfill and buy another one from an overseas country..... We didn't just toss our car if a newer model or nicer color one came out and we didn't put entertainment machines in the back of the closet and eventually throw it away, just because the new version came out and the old games weren't compatible (fancy that) We didn't have a drawer full of old phones and ipods that were perfectly good, but a new 'must have' one was released....
no, nothing green about us oldies at allBack then, people caught a train or a bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mothers into a 24-hour taxi service. We had
one electrical socket in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. We didn’t need a computerised gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza place. We didn't throw away perfectly good underwear just because the brand name wasn't 'in' not that anyone could read the brand of ones underpants back then....
But isn’t it sad the
current generation laments how wasteful we oldies were just because
we didn’t have the green thing back then?Please forward this on to another selfish person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart-ass young person.
Remember: Don’t make old people mad. We don’t like being old in the first place, so it doesn’t take much to piss us off……