Do not argue or mess with this lady. She will lecture you to death. Or grab you by the ear and haul you out to do laundry with a wringer washer.
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.
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 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 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. Karen Karli Webb America in the 1950s
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 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 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. Karen Karli Webb America in the 1950s
The caption on the photo shows the originating post in 2020.
Amen.
Sorry about the length of this post. Didn't know what to edit out.
The cause of our environmental crisis today was/is large-scale industrial, corporate and commercial bad practices. The responsibility for fixing it rests there as well. Blaming individuals for not recycling or whatever is irrelevant and just obscures where the real problem lies.
ReplyDeleteEnvironmental accountability is essential by the big industry conglomerates. What this precious old lady said is perfect!
DeleteMy niece (a Jr. in college then) lectured me on how the women of the 1950-60s were compliant and obedient to the mores demanded at that time. She lectured me!
And we were happy and much less anxious.
ReplyDeleteThe 1960s were exciting. I was 12 and the music was great, fashions were interesting, and there were more opportunities.
DeleteLove this!! Thx
ReplyDeleteGlad to oblige.
DeleteYep, I can see a problem with making a reader's digest version of this post. It has been edited enough to keep its backbone in place.
ReplyDeleteLove you lady, from an old guy and his cotton mill-hill girl.
Sherry & jack
Sending lots of love your way!
Cotton mill-hill girl! Backbone in place is what we all need.
DeleteAh. The good old days.
ReplyDeleteGood old days, commitment to work and family!
DeleteTruth.
ReplyDeleteAnd a surprisingly gentle reminder of that truth.
We were politer then too.
People were held accountable then. If we were rude, everyone knew it.
DeletePerfectly said. She is my new hero. Hope that guy that leaves the Anonymous critical comments wanting all the Boomers to die, gives it a read.
ReplyDeleteOne of those? Who is that?
DeleteWe were actually a lot less wasteful back then. We didn't get a new whatever every couple years just to have a new one - we used the original one until it died.
ReplyDeleteIf someone bought a 2nd thing when the one we had at home, great condemnation fell.
DeleteThis is really, really good!
ReplyDeleteWhoever wrote this has quite a sense of humor!
DeleteThat's been making the rounds. Then the corporations decided that throw away packaging and the like was better, not realizing the mess they were making.
ReplyDeleteSeeing islands of garbage plastics floating in the Pacific is shaming.
DeleteWell noted, we could use some of those practices again.
ReplyDeleteReturning glass bottles to the store to be cleaned a re-used is a distant memory.
DeleteI've read this before, somewhere else, but still find it funny. So much of it is true and many of us oldies still do a lot of things the old way, for instance hanging the clothes on the line to dry and my older daughter used cloth nappies for her babies even though disposables were available. Here in Australia, disposables began appearing in shops when my oldest was ten months old, but I still used the cloth ones for all my four children. I didn't see the sense in buying new nappies and throwing them away every day just for the sake of convenience. Oldest daughter also walked her kids to and from school, in the hills area that's about three kilometres each way and only drove them if the rain or cold was just too much in mid winter. I object to the young ones who thought we oldies ruined the planet, I think it was the combination of in between generations who welcomed an easier way of life with more electrical appliances and then bigger, cheaper TVs and then of course computers got invented and obsolescence was "built in", blame the manufacturers for that, so things would be far cheaper to replace than to repair and things just got way out of hand. Plastics, while extremely convenient, have turned out to be a bad thing. Going back probably can't be done, but we should all try to do "the right thing".
ReplyDelete1950s were a turning point when appliances and electronic appeared.
DeleteI remember working in a ,ilk bottling factory in the late 60s and feeding all the returned bottles into the giant bottle washing machine, then picking out those that broke or were too scratched and stained at the other end of the line. The broke and scratched bottles were sent back to wherever bottles were made to be broken up and melted down for whatever they used it for.
DeleteI got a laugh out of TV screens the size of Montana. And those TVs didn't have remotes, either.
ReplyDeleteOnly ONE thing I'm happy about that was mentioned is I like my gas lawn mower. No way could I push a mower over all my yard. It already takes me all day to mow my yard. I can only imagine what it would take if I had a push mower. Everything else I can (or DO) live without.
Amen on that. As one child of 5 who tag teamed the mowing, gas mowers saved us.
DeleteBrava! Well done. This from a 49er. Our 1st TV was a Zenith "Portable" that took 2 people to lift. Although its many vacuum tubes heated up the living room nicely, I'd have to say I'm impressed with modern compact electronics.
ReplyDeleteTotally. We have carried TV tons over time. TV repairman in our community fixed tVs all over the county, since they were all tubes.
DeleteI agreed with it all until the last bit calling the clerk "a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much." I thought that was a bit unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteOh, same here. Thought about editing it out, but it connected with the woman.
DeleteI have to admit but you can’t reason with crackers, they just text their buddies and you’ll become a 🎯 target or game for a laugh. I have tried.
ReplyDeleteIt's a no win thing, for the most part. $$$ is power. Tattoo girl will learn that soon enough.
DeleteHi Susan - lots to do back then ... slower pace, more to look at - no trying to miss smart ass kids hijacking the pavement et al ... wonderful post and thus thoughts - love it ... take care - Hilary
ReplyDeleteOur younger generations will never understand history if they live in denial and in the indoctrination of universities.
DeletePaper bags to cover your school books, I haven't thought of that in years. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI know, right!
DeleteFunny - I still do a lot of those things now.
ReplyDeleteI do, too.
Delete