The Green Thing

I was sent this, by a friend this evening, and although seeing the funny side it is rather thought provoking as it is true  - we didn't have the green thing back then, but we did other things instead. 

The Green Thing

 

 

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 floors.

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. 

 

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 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?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who
needs a lesson in conservation from a smartass young person.

 

The Green Thing.

 I could add that, we only used to have one room where the light was on
and we used to sit together of an evening all in the same room.  Sometimes
just listening to the radio - other times reading a book or playing board games.
But then it was a different way of life back then, before The Green Thing!


Catch you soon - I am still playing with book mountain.


Pattypan


xx