In the line at the store, the cashier told the older womanthat 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 generationdid 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 beerbottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be
washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottlesover and over. So they really wererecycled.
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 escalatorin every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store anddidn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go twoblocks.
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 thethrow-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobblingmachine burning up 220 volts - wind and solar power really did dry theclothes. 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 herday.
Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house - not a TV in everyroom. 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 blendedand stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do
everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in themail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoamor plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cutthe lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercisedby working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run ontreadmills 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 cupor a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilledtheir writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and theyreplaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the wholerazor 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 bikesto school or rode the school bus insteadof turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had oneelectrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power adozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receivea signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order tofind the nearest pizza joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the oldfolks were just because they didn't have the green thing back then?
