Who's to blame

Mr_Ted

This is so right!

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman that she should bring her own shopping bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days."

The cashier responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."

She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day. Back then, we returned milk bottles, pop 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. 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 in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every shop 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 nappies 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 our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that young 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 county of Yorkshire . 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 post, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol 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 water from a fountain or a tap when we were thirsty instead of demanding a plastic bottle flown in from another country. We accepted that a lot of food was seasonal and didn’t expect that to be bucked by flying it thousands of air miles around the world. We actually cooked food that didn’t come out of a packet, tin or plastic wrap and we could even wash our own vegetables and chop our own salad.

But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the tram or a bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mothers 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?

From another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart know-it-all young person.

Remember: Don't make old people mad. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to annoy us.

little_busy_bee

but you did have two nuclear bombs dropped and the start of nuclear power stations to name but a few things, so i am not sure what your point is excatly?

The_Green_Man_2

Perhaps if you googled "baby boomers selfish" to see the possible reasoning behind the cashier's remarks. Here are some examples from the mainstream media.

http://www.totalpolitics.com/print/5278/debate-is-the-babyboomer-generation-selfish.thtml

"those lucky enough to be born between 1945 and 1965 are the biggest and richest generation that Britain has ever known - and that they attained this position at the expense of their children. Today, the baby-boomers are at the peak of their power and wealth. By virtue of their sheer demographic size, they have fashioned the world around them in a way that meets their housing, healthcare and financial needs. Their children, on the other hand, are finding it harder than ever to get on the housing ladder, find a secure job and settle down with a family."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2055497/JEREMY-PAXMAN-Baby-Boomers-selfish-generation-history.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/05/baby-boomers-voting-muscle

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-selfish-generation-1598244.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/opinion/keller-the-entitled-generation.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Seakay

no one has indicated when the cashier and when the women were born, so all of these comparisons are specious.

Kernel_Sanders

little_busy_bee wrote: »

but you did have two nuclear bombs dropped

Good point. And if they hadn't been, just think of the extra environmental benefits of having a million fewer Americans on the planet.
But seriously, it was an excellent opening post, although it's watts that are 'gobbled up', not volts (or to be more correct, watt hours). Water consumption as well as electricity consumption per head is also far higher today than in the OP's youth..