We didn't need "green" growing up
12-08-2016, 12:59 PM
#1
Thread Starter
We didn't need "green" growing up
Got this 'too true' email from Pa Jerry; got'a share it but its likely been posted before... so be it.
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 didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days."
The young clerk responded, "That's 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 didn't 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 didn't 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 didn't do the "green thing" back then.
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 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 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 wadded up old newspapers 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 blade in a r azor 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 in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the"green thing." 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 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger 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 smart ass young person.
We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off... Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much.
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 didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days."
The young clerk responded, "That's 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 didn't 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 didn't 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 didn't do the "green thing" back then.
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 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 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 wadded up old newspapers 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 blade in a r azor 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 in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the"green thing." 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 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger 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 smart ass young person.
We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off... Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much.
Last edited by dlq04; 12-08-2016 at 01:04 PM.
12-08-2016, 01:20 PM
#2
"Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much."
And you wonder why the youths give you attitude?
BTW, all of the wasteful habits pointed out in the mass email turned post were proliferated by baby boomers & the self-proclaimed Greatest Generation.
And you wonder why the youths give you attitude?
BTW, all of the wasteful habits pointed out in the mass email turned post were proliferated by baby boomers & the self-proclaimed Greatest Generation.
12-08-2016, 01:31 PM
#5
Thread Starter
"Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much."
And you wonder why the youths give you attitude?
BTW, all of the wasteful habits pointed out in the mass email turned post were proliferated by baby boomers & the self-proclaimed Greatest Generation.
And you wonder why the youths give you attitude?
BTW, all of the wasteful habits pointed out in the mass email turned post were proliferated by baby boomers & the self-proclaimed Greatest Generation.
12-08-2016, 01:47 PM
#6
"Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much."
And you wonder why the youths give you attitude?
BTW, all of the wasteful habits pointed out in the mass email turned post were proliferated by baby boomers & the self-proclaimed Greatest Generation.
And you wonder why the youths give you attitude?
BTW, all of the wasteful habits pointed out in the mass email turned post were proliferated by baby boomers & the self-proclaimed Greatest Generation.
Every morning a little before 5 AM I go to a Chevron convenience to get a newspaper to read on the Lifecycle at the gym. One morning I gave a young kid behind the counter a five dollar bill and two dimes to pay for a $2.18 newspaper. He couldn't figure out what to do, even with a pocket calculator. I had to take back the two dimes and let him make change for the $5, again with the calculator, then give him back the change for a one dollar bill. The whole thing took about five minutes. Note to self: Always have the exact change.
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12-08-2016, 02:31 PM
#8
Every morning a little before 5 AM I go to a Chevron convenience to get a newspaper to read on the Lifecycle at the gym. One morning I gave a young kid behind the counter a five dollar bill and two dimes to pay for a $2.18 newspaper. He couldn't figure out what to do, even with a pocket calculator. I had to take back the two dimes and let him make change for the $5, again with the calculator, then give him back the change for a one dollar bill. The whole thing took about five minutes. Note to self: Always have the exact change.
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12-08-2016, 02:56 PM
#9
First off I didn't write the email. Secondly, youth's don't give me attitude. If they did I'd cut them out of their inheritance. And, as far as the Greatest Generation goes (I quess I fall in to that), we had the best cars, best music, best chance of a great future, and . . . doesn't matter . . . you missed it.
12-08-2016, 04:12 PM
#10
Registered User
Thank you, Dave, for the thread. I posted it on my Facebook page with the following introduction:
I copied this from a thread on S2ki.com, a Honda S2000 car owners forum, and it was in the "Vintage Owners" section, which is where old farts like me, like to visit fellow S2000 owners with old fart attitudes. I liked the post enough to share it. My friend Dave, who lives in Michigan, and who I've met at S2000 meets back east shared it there...
The only person I ever get any attitude from is my son. He is strict about recycling in his home. When he was growing up I always saved bottles and cans for recycling. At that point our trash cans in Acton, CA were a free for all (1985 to 2008). In Lake Forest, CA, now, we have 2 or 3 trash cans. I only have 2 but the three are for: green waste from plants, mixed recyclable stuff (plastic, metal, clothes,...) and non-recyclables like pet poop.
I copied this from a thread on S2ki.com, a Honda S2000 car owners forum, and it was in the "Vintage Owners" section, which is where old farts like me, like to visit fellow S2000 owners with old fart attitudes. I liked the post enough to share it. My friend Dave, who lives in Michigan, and who I've met at S2000 meets back east shared it there...
The only person I ever get any attitude from is my son. He is strict about recycling in his home. When he was growing up I always saved bottles and cans for recycling. At that point our trash cans in Acton, CA were a free for all (1985 to 2008). In Lake Forest, CA, now, we have 2 or 3 trash cans. I only have 2 but the three are for: green waste from plants, mixed recyclable stuff (plastic, metal, clothes,...) and non-recyclables like pet poop.
