WASTEFUL OLD FOLKS

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[Arrowhead1952]

Sent with nostalgia...

The Green Thing

In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags 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. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

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.

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 the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old 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 a wadded up old newspaper 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 blades 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.

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 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 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 smartass young person.

[TheOldLady]

Yes, we keep straight tap water (well, it’s softened) separate from the drinking water. It’s in the garage, and will be used for just such as that.

[Rebelbase]

“They showed a video of a ‘bottled’ water supplier’s truck backed up to an outdoor faucet in an office complex. The driver was filling empty bottles from the tap.”

A reverse of that happened to me. A local water filter company put door hangers out with a small sample bottle to fill with your tap water, leave on the door and they’d run an analysis for free.

I filled mine up with distilled water. A few days later I get a call reporting the results, Iron, bacteria, sulfur, etc. were found and I should buy one of their filters.

When I told the caller that was BS because the sample I left was distilled water she hung up on me.

[piroque]

What is funny is most people never see what is on the outside of the gift bag. I think they just see a “bag”. I sent a birthday gift to her husband in a Barbie Princess bag and he never noticed. We both waited to see what he would say and he never said a thing. (maybe women notice more?!)

No,, most of us old married men know when to keep our mouth shut. ;)

[TomGuy]

I remember collecting the tin soda cans and news papers very well.

Summers in the 50s were hot, without a/c. Kids stayed outside most of the time. Early in the summer, watermelons (seasonal then) became available, but the prices were pretty high, comparatively.

As summer wound down, watermelon prices would drop. My brother and I would go along the roadways and parking areas and pick up soda bottles. In a couple of days we could collect enough to turn in to the grocrery and get enough money to buy a big watermelon. Bottle returns were about 2-cents and watermelon prices had dropped to 1-to-2-cents per pound.

[Sergio]

Bookmark.

[Grizzled Bear]

His horse was gray and named Dolly.

I bet Dolly received carrots and sugar cubes from a certain little DJ.

[American Constitutionalist]

We had our own name for the diaper trucks, but, ask your mom what color the trucks were.
The best times to live in America were from the late 30s, through the 40s, 50s, 60s, and early 70s... but, the 40s, 50s, were the best.

[momtothree]

LOL! You’re probably right... ignore the Princess bag or the evening just became bothersome!!

[TheOldLady]

Well that makes me feel a lot better. I’m not the only one who reuses paper towels, LOL! By the time I throw a paper towel away, it’s looking pretty pitiful.

The sturdy ones can even be washed in dish liquid and reused over and over. I buy the sturdy ones.

[Arrowhead1952]

Years ago, I went to the NAPA parts house for some parts. I saw bundles of towels that were rejected by hotels. They were selling them of $10 for a bundle of five towels so I bought two bundles. I was going to use them to clean the cars.

Most were solid white and had the hotel names on them. The only thing wrong may have been a bad weave or seam on the end. My wife confiscated them for the bathrooms. We are STILL using them.

[TheOldLady]

Yes, you’re right. Most of them do, but some do not. Here’s hoping that the enviroweenies don’t catch them.

[Rebelbase]

They still have that.

[Arrowhead1952]

Uh, no way. I am using them instead of getting my rider out.

[American Constitutionalist]

I fixed my brother's TV he had found in the trash, all it needed was the circuit board re-soldered because the new environmentally safe no lead solder is crap, it will crack from thermal cycles.

[CodeToad]

“didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine “

That gets two to three times the gas mileage of the cars of that day.

“We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen”

Then threw away that glass bottle the ink can in.

I could go on, but this entire article was writtnen by a Luddite, a liberal, not an older person.

[Sporke]

I bought a bottle of water once....once. I thought it must have some magical taste, since people were buying WATER, it didn’t. People have issues....

[TheOldLady]

Cool! Yes, those hotel towels have to be practically bullet proof, or they’d be replacing them every week.

We have four towels that we bought from a hotel (really, we bought them) in the early ‘90s, and they’re still very much in use and not looking raggedy at all.

Although we do have a LOT of towels (I’m a towel freak — love those bath sheets), and they don’t come up in the rotation too often.

[American Constitutionalist]

Yes, the fuel system get's water in them from sitting during the winter time if it's left outside in the weather.
These days they had additives to put in the gasoline so it won't go bad sitting in the lawn mover for months, but, gasoline get's stale and because like varnish it left sitting in the lawn mover..... with mowers with float bowl, got to drop the float bowl and hopefully the bowl gasket can be reused, clean the needle valve, bowl, and take a bread wire tie and carefully clean the orifices out.
If the electronic ignition is bad, there is not to much you can do for it, got to get a new one, still I like the electronic ignition over the points/condenser system, unless there is a EMP attack from Russia or China.

[TheOldLady]

Hubby lives to get his rider out. Mowing is a Zen experience for him, and he’s been doing it twice a week since summer started. Two acres of mowing bliss!

[American Constitutionalist]

On a lawn mover that I know the engine is no more good, I see how long it takes to run without the oil.