Please read the following story and share your thoughts. We have been studying about conservation, non-renewable resources etc. A friend of mine shared the story/ comments--we do not know the source, but appreciate the thought provoking comparisons of then and now.
Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman,that she should bring her own grocery 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 clerk 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, soda bottles and beer bottles to thestore. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized andrefilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they reallywere 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 andoffice building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she wasright. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have thethrow-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobblingmachine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry ourclothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from theirbrothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady isright; 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 blendedand stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to doeverything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, weused wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubblewrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cutthe lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised byworking so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills thatoperate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing backthen.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or aplastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing penswith ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in arazor 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 toschool 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 topower a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget toreceive a 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 we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
What are your thoughts? Anything you would like to add? Should we go back to living like "the good ole days?"
Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman,that she should bring her own grocery 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 clerk 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, soda bottles and beer bottles to thestore. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized andrefilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they reallywere 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 andoffice building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she wasright. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have thethrow-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobblingmachine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry ourclothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from theirbrothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady isright; 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 blendedand stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to doeverything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, weused wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubblewrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cutthe lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised byworking so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills thatoperate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing backthen.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or aplastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing penswith ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in arazor 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 toschool 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 topower a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget toreceive a 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 we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
What are your thoughts? Anything you would like to add? Should we go back to living like "the good ole days?"
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