Now, having said all that, I hope you enjoy this humorous and truthful post . . .
Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><
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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 young 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 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 truly 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 schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school bought with tax-payer money) 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 throwaway 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 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 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?
Cute! My grandmothers would AMEN you! They raised their families during the depression and were models of efficiency and work ethic and the amazing independent spirit of women who do what needs to be done simply because it needs to be done instead of to prove they "were better than men"! They loved and cherished their husbands...... sadly, many of my mother's and father's generation did not continue in their footsteps (wonderful people though they be) and they really do not get why I have chosen to align myself with more of their parents attitudes than theirs. However, my children and I are learning "the old ways" in an effort to be better stewards of the world and bodies God gifted us with. Political correctness and liberal thinking can chase itself in a circle for all I care but as a Christian, I do believe that I have a responsibility to God to take care of what I'm given whether it be children, a home, a yard, or whatever... I only wish I had gleaned more wisdom and knowledge from my grandparents before they left his world.... especially my Granny's fudge recipe! ;)
ReplyDeleteI just love this. I am thankful that I was raised the way the older lady is so that I could raise my kids the way that I was raised. My parents still have the same frig that I grew up with...I am 47 so that frig is old!!! They often thought that they did not have much when they were little, but now they understand why I raised them so 'Old-fashioned' and they appreciate and value it. They see that their generation has no common sense and is extremely spoiled and wasteful. Now don't get me wrong, they do have iphones and mac laptops now but they all work and buy those things with their own money. They do like the 'toys' to an extent. But they know how to live without them and that is the difference. They also do recycle, reuse, cook from scratch, grow their own(organic garden), buy local, etc etc...I do believe things will turn around as more and more people return to simple living 'back to the basics' and I see many are.
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