Wendy's nephew Ivon Hurst has a farm at Pleasant Point, South Canterbury, New Zealand. He sent me this, which evokes many memories. I resonate to the older lady's sentiments!
Checking out at the store, the young cashier
suggested to the older woman that she should
bring her own shopping 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 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 returned
milk bottles, pop 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. 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 in our day.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every shop 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 walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every shop 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 nappies 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 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.
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 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 handkerchiefs?) not a screen the size of Yorkshire. 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 post, 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 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. But she's right.
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 handkerchiefs?) not a screen the size of Yorkshire. 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 post, 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 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. But she's right.
We didn't have the green thing back then.
We drank water from the tap when we were thirsty, instead of so-called pure spring water from a plastic bottle. A lot of food was seasonal and we didn't expect fresh fruit all year round flown in from thousands of air miles away. We cooked food that didn't come out of a tin, a packet, or plastic wrap. We even washed our own vegetables and chopped our own salad.
But we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the tram 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 outlet in a room, not a bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized phone to receive a signal from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn't it sad that the current generation
laments how wasteful we old folks were just
because we didn't have the green thing back then?
Please forward this to another selfish old
person who needs a lesson in conservation from
a 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; and there are lots and lots of us, more every day.
Back then, people took the tram 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 outlet in a room, not a bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized phone to receive a signal from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn't it sad that the current generation
laments how wasteful we old folks were just
because we didn't have the green thing back then?
Please forward this to another selfish old
person who needs a lesson in conservation from
a 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; and there are lots and lots of us, more every day.
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