"THE GREEN THING"
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 thegreen 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 herday.
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 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?
Food for thought shared by Mi Wuk resident Terri McKinsey.
