34
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or those of us who can remember the 60s and before...
And even for those of us who can’t remember the 60s
and before...
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 young 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 reused
for numerous things, most
memorable besides household
garbage bags, was the use
of brown paper bags as book
covers for our schoolbooks.
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.
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 throwaway 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 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. 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?
Show this to another selfish old person who needs a lesson
in conservation from a smartass young upstart...
On Being
GREEN
Back In The Day
DEEP THOUGHTS...
