Just how Green was that Older Generation?

535845_618601594835542_1802133496_nVoting American

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 hankerchief, 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 rode the school bus 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?

http://votingamerican.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/just-how-green-was-that-older-generation/

18 thoughts on “Just how Green was that Older Generation?”

  1. Well, I guess us older generation didn`t have that green thing back in the day but we didn`t have the polution like nowdays either, we did have factory polution like now but not nearly as much and we were not nearly as much of a throw out society as we are now days either.

    Reply

    1. Good one, Digger.

      I also remember sharing rides to save gas and the wear and tear of mileage on the vehicle, with so many kids packed in it was taken for granted some would have to sit on others’ laps, and you did it quietly without complaint in order to avoid a shushing fly swatter being waved from the driver’s seat.

      I also remember one day a week Mom cleaned out the fridge, and that meant dinner was all the left overs; your choice whether you ate it or not but that was all there was to eat. And with the dog fed any leftovers from the table, no food was ever thrown out.

      Reply

  3. Lest we forget drinking out of a hose on a hot summers day,running through the sprinkler to cool off,grandpa making homemade ice cream in a hand crank ice cream maker,Grandma making pies(not store bought),laying out at night watching the stars for a falling star(not playing vid games).I’m sure kids of the 50’s can come up with even more.

    Reply

    1. Man REDHORSE, you guys are realy bringing back memories, yep those realy were good days. Neighbors could trust neighbors. I still try to live that way, yea I still do not lock my house doors and I still leave the keys in the car, Ya know so I do not loose them keys. LOL

      Reply

        1. Aw man Henry, I live in small town america. Colfax, Wi. 🙂 . Where everyone know everyone and ya cannot get away with anything and we all stand up for each other. The best small town around I must say. 🙂 execpt for the weather. lol

          Reply

  4. I remember the milk man…I was teased when younger…… D. how come you look more like the milkman than your dad? 🙂

    Reply

    1. I used to be a milkman when I first started driving. I bet #1 would remember the Helms Bakery Trucks that used to drive thru our neighborhoods in So.Cal area when we were kids. A fresh made donut shop on wheels! Those were the days.. Sheesh man, we had one that would catch us kids on the way to elementary school… that was the bomb! Here is a picture.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9LeZD-Y4HY

      https://secure.flickr.com/photos/g_cliser/5357338287/sizes/l/in/photostream/

      http://thenostalgialeague.yuku.com/topic/2228/t/The-Helms-Bakery-truck.html

      Reply

      1. Absolutely, Smilardog! I have NEVER found a glazed donut since then that compares to the Helm’s truck.

        Most of the time they were still warm. 🙂

        Reply

  5. Dad going to the store with .75 cents to buy a carton of Bottled Pepsi after the “Charlie Chip Man” delivered a big can of Tater chips…….Neil Armstrong was unknown then…….Cpt. Kirk had just debut on TV with a brand new Science Fiction show called Star Trek………James West and Ardy Gordon were foiling Mr Lovelace’s (The midget) evil plots……..Oliver Douglas Bought a Claxton Steel wheel tractor from Carlton Haney….. OHHHH…and A new show was coming about a dude named Gilligan on some Islands with cast-aways

    GREEN??? Green acres??? Green???? sorry dont remember it.

    I do remember Conway Twitty singing “green green grass of home””

    Reply

  6. Helms bakery man…it was the highlight of my youth…loved it. Thanks for the reminder…almost made me cry.

    Reply

  7. Dad going to the store with .75 cents to buy a carton of Bottled Pepsi after the “Charlie Chip Man” delivered a big can of Tater chips…….Neil Armstrong was unknown then…….Cpt. Kirk had just debut on TV with a brand new Science Fiction show called Star Trek………James West and Ardy Gordon were foiling Mr Lovelace’s (The midget) evil plots……..Oliver Douglas Bought a Claxton Steel wheel tractor from Carlton Haney….. .and John Glenn was given permition to piss in his space suit. A new ford f-100 cost $1195. A new music group called the Monkies were hitin the scene. And the TET offensive was yet to happen

    Green???? sorry dont remember it.

    I do remember Conway Twitty singing “green green grass of home””

    Reply

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