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.
 
 But she was right. 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?

Ain’t That The Truth!

Love Lee ♥