Tuesday, August 02, 2011

The Green Thing

It's not original. It was received in an e-mail from my sister-in-law. (Thanks, Beverly.) It is, however, good enough to break the ice and end the month-plus hiatus this blog has been experiencing.

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 blocks.

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?

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6 comments:

Hale McKay said...

Well, it's been 58 days since my last cigarette.

For some reason, I've had no desire to post to the blog and have been unable to come up with anything creative.

I wouldn't think that not smoking is the cause, but if it is indeed the reason, I'll personally be better off for it.

I do, however, miss posting to the blog and am hopeful that posts like this will help me resurrect the creative juices once again.

Of course: There is the matter of the final chapter of "Butterfly Dreams" ...

It will be forthcoming ... SOON!

Sandee said...

I'm so proud of you for not smoking for 58 days. Good for you and your health.

I'll await the final chapter.

Have a terrific day. :)

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the not smoking! You will be better off without them, it just takes awhile.

iamams said...

Glad you are back. Congratulations on 58 smoke free days. Have you started to notice your food having more flavor, or the air having more scents that you could taste or smell before? When I smoked, I couldn't smell the "cigarette aroma", but now, when I walk by the smoking area at work, I sure can. Have a great day!

Phils Phun said...

Welcome back i havemissed reading your post
Cheers from down under

Peter said...

Well done Mlke, quitting smoking isn't hard I did it dozens of times!!!!
Loved the green thing.