The Green Thing - I Had to Share

In the queue 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."

She was right -- The older generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, they 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 - they didn't have the green thing back in our day.

They walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building.

They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But she was right. They didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind.

They 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; they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, everyone 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? I remember my Grandparents!), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.

In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for them.

When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power.

They exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

People 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.

They 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.

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.

They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they 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 (SO GUILTY).

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful these "old folks" are just because they didn't have the green thing back then?

I recieved this forward and had to pass it on! Now I feel guilty!!!! I was told to pass this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartass young person. HAHA THANKS AUNT MARILYN!

Remember: Don't make old People mad. They don't like being old already, so it doesn't take much to piss them off <3