[skyguy79]

In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags 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. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He 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.

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 throw-away kind. We 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; 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.

But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper 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 purchased their food in bulk and prepared meals and canned vegetables instead of buying it in a box, can or jar and throwing it away. 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 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?

[chuckinca]

U must be a lot older than me - and I remember waiting an hour in front of an Indian test pattern for Howdy Doody to come on.


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[skyguy79]

Originally Posted by chuckinca

U must be a lot older than me - and I remember waiting an hour in front of an Indian test pattern for Howdy Doody to come on.

Don't know, could be. But I do remember test patterns and Howdy Doody, along with Mr. Flub-a-dub and more. I had a crush on Princess Summerfall Winterspring!

Do you remember Kukla, Fran & Ollie?

http://youtu.be/LwjYb5xhGuU

[chuckinca]

Yes, and Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney, Edgar Burgen and Charlie McCarthy, and Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop, etc.

I sort of liked Mary Hartline.


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[chuckinca]

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[hedoman]

BRAVO! And we only had 1 car not 1 car for every child who turned 16 so we didn't have to chauffer them around to every event they were participating in....

[Gerald]

makes me laugh "the green thing" the stores give out the plastic because it is cheaper then paper. It was always about money not about saving the world. Just good advertizing and people believe that business cares. If the clerk is so into green, why didn't she use a paper bag for the person or suppy one that was green. You go into a store for an item and someone expects that you should be carring around your own bag. Of course we all don't leave home without one. LOL

[flamingo]

WOW! So true, skyguy! Did you send a copy of this to the young clerk at the grocery?

[JimPete]

You are almost right Skyguy. We lived to far from the school to ride our bikes so we had to ride the bus. But, that's how we got our exercise. We all helped peddle.

[GaDawg]

Don't you think that if Rebecca Boone had had a microwave she would have used it. Ahh the price of progress. I remember my grandparents having a hog killing in the fall of the year so we could have meat to eat all winter. I still prefer to go to a grocery that sells sausage by the pound and wraps it in that white wax paper and ties a string around it. Yep, sometimes I do miss those days. For about ...that long.

[TednRobin]

What a good post SkyGuy. I remember going around the neighborhood collecting pop bottles for candy money.

[skyguy79]

Originally Posted by TednRobin

What a good post SkyGuy. I remember going around the neighborhood collecting pop bottles for candy money.

... and I remember spending half days going around and asking people for their newspapers to be thrown out for anywhere between $.35 and $.75!