In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she

                 should bring her own grocery bag 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.  The former

                 generation did not care enough to save our environment."
               
                 He was right; that generation didn't have the "green thing" in its day.
               
                 Back then, they returned their 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 that customer's day.
               
                 In her 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.
               
                 They didn't have the "green thing" in her day.
               
                 Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they 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, they 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, not a screen the size of the state of Montana .
                 In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because
                 they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you.
                 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. They used a push mower that ran on

                 human power.  They exercised by working so they didn't

                 need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate

                 on electricity.
               
                 But she's right, they didn't have the "green thing" back then.
               
                 They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty
                 instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had

                 a drink of water.  They refilled their writing pens with ink

                 instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor

                 blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor

                 just because the blade got dull.
               
                 But they 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.   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.
               
                 But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful

                 the old folks were just because they didn't have the "green thing"

                 back then?
               
                 WOW!!!!!!!!!!!
               

 

Barry