That Green Thing

Vanity ^ | 28 March 2011 | Unknown

[Windflier]

That Green Thing

In the line at the store today, the cashier told an older woman ahead of me that plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

That's right, they didn't have the green thing in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles, and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But they didn't have the green thing back in her 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's 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 pizza dish, 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 wadded up 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 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 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 that old lady is right. They didn't have the green thing back in her day.

[Windflier]

Did you write that?

No, no. Notice up top it says, "Unknown". I got it in email yesterday from a friend, and thought I'd share.

Glad you like it.

[Windflier]

I remember when I was a kid, 8 to 11 years old, finding soda pop bottles was a great source of income -- the really good ones were worth a dime, the price of an Almond Joy!

Yep. My brothers and I would usually store up empties in the garage until we had at least a shopping cart's worth, then haul them up to the store to cash them in.

In those days, most kids didn't get automatic allowances from mom and dad, so we had to be resourceful!

[Jack of all Trades]

Here's today's green thing:

Green on the outside. Commie red on the inside.

[Joe 6-pack]

"First I've ever heard that Iron Eyes Cody was really Sicilian."

Actually he was born in Kaplan, Louisiana (just down the road from me) to Sicilian immigrant parents. His real last name was "de Corti".

[Joe 6-pack]

"I think the critical resource here is landfill."

Except for the fact that glass bottle started out as sand. Throwing it in the landfill is in fact, "recycling."

[chimera]

Dilbert had a pretty good comment on this today...

[MileHi]

LOL!

Thanks

[Windflier]

Actually he was born in Kaplan, Louisiana (just down the road from me) to Sicilian immigrant parents. His real last name was "de Corti".

Son of a gun... I learn something new around here every day. I'll bet a lot of Native Americans didn't even know that, back in the day.

[redhead]

"I miss paper bags..."

LOL! I remember going to a "department store," which was where we bought things like bedding, clothing, and some housewares. When we made our purchases, the clerk would wrap our pile of neatly folded items in a paper wrapping and tie the bundle with string. In the "dime store," there were no blister packs or racks. All small items were displayed on big tables divided into little compartments with a "per each" price marker. All our purchases there went into a paper sack. Meat in the grocery store was wrapped in paper, produce was wrapped in absorbent paper before being put into our paper bags.

I have written a couple of times on my own blog about the "good old days." LOL! I remember having an "ice box," that used ICE for cooling. Every Saturday, my sister and I were given a 50-cent piece, and we borrowed the neighbors' Radio Flyer wagon, walked to the service station and bought a 50-pound block of ice, which we trundled back home so my daddy could put it into the ice box for another week's worth of cooling.

[libertarian27]

I’m too young to remember the icebox - we always had the refrigerator - but my parents always called it the icebox when I was growing up and I still call it the icebox - I’ll slip once in awhile and call it the fridge - but it’s the icebox!