Message to the "Greenies"

[pair8head]

I don't know the origin of this but it certainly speaks volumes.

Checking out at the grocery store recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.
I 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 about one thing -- our generation didn't have the green thing in “Our” day. So what did we have back then…?
After some reflection and soul-searching on "Our" day here's what I remembered we did have....
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 repeatedly. 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 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 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?
Please post this on your Facebook profile so another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smarty-pants young person can add to this.

[big john]

Bravo! Well said. And another thing, which generation is using all the ozone-deleting
spray paint cans to spread their crappy graffiti all over the place?

[Tequila Revenge]

OUTSTANDING!!

Speaks volumes of how in a short period of time we can see first hand what happens to a country where the economy based mostly consumption can do. All though I think the oil companies and the American Chemical Council would disagree.

[nutmeg]

I lived in those days before "green" too.

However, you might want to pick up some of those reusable grocery bags. I don't know how I ever lived without them. I use the for everything. They carry stuff back and forth to the cabin. I take stuff to work in them. They hold my knitting. When we go on vacation we load them up with stuff and it is so easy to ferry stuff we need in and out.

Oh, and we do take them to the grocery too. They don't tip over in the trunk and the handles don't break off.

[TropicalTroubador]

Ah yes, that old rant...

Because engaging in a false sense of superiority over other people makes everything in the world *so* much better.

I'm just sayin'.

[surfpirate]

Ah yes, that old rant...

Because engaging in a false sense of superiority over other people makes everything in the world *so* much better.

I'm just sayin'.

Not sure whether your comment was intended
to put down the young cashier "greenie" in the story,
the elder's response .... or both.

But I am sure that your post *so* clearly engages in
a sense of superiority, false or not.

I'm just sayin' ......

[Carolinadreamin']

I lived in those days before "green" too.

However, you might want to pick up some of those reusable grocery bags. I don't know how I ever lived without them. I use the for everything. They carry stuff back and forth to the cabin. I take stuff to work in them. They hold my knitting. When we go on vacation we load them up with stuff and it is so easy to ferry stuff we need in and out.

Oh, and we do take them to the grocery too. They don't tip over in the trunk and the handles don't break off.

Just remember to wash them after several uses. I read an article about someone who tested the bacteria levels in the bags after many uses........EWWWWW!!!!!! It was quite an eye-opener. I wash the bags every few weeks now.

[TommyBahama]

i've seen this before....so true!!!

[Tequila Revenge]

I lived in those days before "green" too.

However, you might want to pick up some of those reusable grocery bags. I don't know how I ever lived without them. I use the for everything. They carry stuff back and forth to the cabin. I take stuff to work in them. They hold my knitting. When we go on vacation we load them up with stuff and it is so easy to ferry stuff we need in and out.

Oh, and we do take them to the grocery too. They don't tip over in the trunk and the handles don't break off.

Just remember to wash them after several uses. I read an article about someone who tested the bacteria levels in the bags after many uses........EWWWWW!!!!!! It was quite an eye-opener. I wash the bags every few weeks now.

I know, I know, I know.... and I read the article and am pretty sure it was paid for by the American Chemical Council, to sell more plastic bags. Along the same lines of encountering bacteria on a daily basis, you can find the same results on your money, shopping cart handles, public transportation, public restrooms, a woman's purse, ( you put them on the floor of a pubic bathroom! What do you expect to be there) stair hand rails... in fact where ever people are, there are germs. Most of us have immune systems that actually grow stronger when we encounter these germs too.

BTW, I'm a big time reusable bag person too

[sonofabeach]

"please post this to your facebook" kinda kills the whole rant

[alphabits]

My generation can beat up your generation!

I'm waiting for the Amish to weigh in .......

[nutmeg]

I lived in those days before "green" too.

However, you might want to pick up some of those reusable grocery bags. I don't know how I ever lived without them. I use the for everything. They carry stuff back and forth to the cabin. I take stuff to work in them. They hold my knitting. When we go on vacation we load them up with stuff and it is so easy to ferry stuff we need in and out.

Oh, and we do take them to the grocery too. They don't tip over in the trunk and the handles don't break off.

Just remember to wash them after several uses. I read an article about someone who tested the bacteria levels in the bags after many uses........EWWWWW!!!!!! It was quite an eye-opener. I wash the bags every few weeks now.

I know, I know, I know.... and I read the article and am pretty sure it was paid for by the American Chemical Council, to sell more plastic bags. Along the same lines of encountering bacteria on a daily basis, you can find the same results on your money, shopping cart handles, public transportation, public restrooms, a woman's purse, ( you put them on the floor of a pubic bathroom! What do you expect to be there) stair hand rails... in fact where ever people are, there are germs. Most of us have immune systems that actually grow stronger when we encounter these germs too.

BTW, I'm a big time reusable bag person too

I remember last summer when someone got the great idea of testing flip flops for bacteria.

[Carolinadreamin']

I lived in those days before "green" too.

However, you might want to pick up some of those reusable grocery bags. I don't know how I ever lived without them. I use the for everything. They carry stuff back and forth to the cabin. I take stuff to work in them. They hold my knitting. When we go on vacation we load them up with stuff and it is so easy to ferry stuff we need in and out.

Oh, and we do take them to the grocery too. They don't tip over in the trunk and the handles don't break off.

Just remember to wash them after several uses. I read an article about someone who tested the bacteria levels in the bags after many uses........EWWWWW!!!!!! It was quite an eye-opener. I wash the bags every few weeks now.

I know, I know, I know.... and I read the article and am pretty sure it was paid for by the American Chemical Council, to sell more plastic bags. Along the same lines of encountering bacteria on a daily basis, you can find the same results on your money, shopping cart handles, public transportation, public restrooms, a woman's purse, ( you put them on the floor of a pubic bathroom! What do you expect to be there) stair hand rails... in fact where ever people are, there are germs. Most of us have immune systems that actually grow stronger when we encounter these germs too.

BTW, I'm a big time reusable bag person too

I believe "you need to eat a pound of dirt before you die" but..........I NEVER put my handbag on a restroom floor......I rarely touch handrails on escalators or stairs and I wash my hands.......a lot........I'm a school nurse so I work in a hot zone every day...... I think washing the bags is a good idea because it would decrease bacteria levels.....just like showering....wiping your keyboard and cell phone...and washing your clothes.....and your food.......

Oh......and I NEVER use those thin plastic bags in the grocery.......they break a lot!

[I'm an Altered Boy]

my food always tastes soapy after i wash it

[springparrot]

I lived in those days before "green" too.

However, you might want to pick up some of those reusable grocery bags. I don't know how I ever lived without them. I use the for everything. They carry stuff back and forth to the cabin. I take stuff to work in them. They hold my knitting. When we go on vacation we load them up with stuff and it is so easy to ferry stuff we need in and out.

Oh, and we do take them to the grocery too. They don't tip over in the trunk and the handles don't break off.

Just remember to wash them after several uses. I read an article about someone who tested the bacteria levels in the bags after many uses........EWWWWW!!!!!! It was quite an eye-opener. I wash the bags every few weeks now.

I know, I know, I know.... and I read the article and am pretty sure it was paid for by the American Chemical Council, to sell more plastic bags. Along the same lines of encountering bacteria on a daily basis, you can find the same results on your money, shopping cart handles, public transportation, public restrooms, a woman's purse, ( you put them on the floor of a pubic bathroom! What do you expect to be there) stair hand rails... in fact where ever people are, there are germs. Most of us have immune systems that actually grow stronger when we encounter these germs too.

BTW, I'm a big time reusable bag person too

I believe "you need to eat a pound of dirt before you die" but..........I NEVER put my handbag on a restroom floor......I rarely touch handrails on escalators or stairs and I wash my hands.......a lot........I'm a school nurse so I work in a hot zone every day...... I think washing the bags is a good idea because it would decrease bacteria levels.....just like showering....wiping your keyboard and cell phone...and washing your clothes.....and your food.......

Oh......and I NEVER use those thin plastic bags in the grocery.......they break a lot!

I don't wash my bags, but do spray them with an antibacterial spray when I think about it