Subj: Fwd: The Green Thing > > > > > Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much > older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic > bags are not good for the environment. > The woman apologized to the young girl and explained, We didnt have > this green thing back in my earlier days. > The young clerk responded, Thats our problem today. Your generation > did not care enough to save our environment for future generations. > The older lady said that she was right -- our generation didnt have > the green thing in its day. The older lady went on to explain: > 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 didnt 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 school books. 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 didnt do the green thing back then. We walked up > stairs because we didnt have an escalator in every store and office > building. We walked to the grocery store and didnt climb into a > 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. > But she was right. We didnt have the green thing in our day. Back > then we washed the babys diapers because we didnt 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 didnt 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 didnt 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 didnt 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 didnt need to > go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. > But shes right; we didnt 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 > blade in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because > the blade got dull. > But we didnt 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 in the > familys $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before > thegreen thing. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire > bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didnt 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 isnt it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old > folks were just because we didnt have the green thing back then? > Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson > in conservation from a smart ass young person. > We dont like being old in the first place, so it doesnt take much to > piss us off... especially from a tattooed, multiple-pierced smartass > who cant make change without the cash register telling them how much.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 19:04:53 +0000
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