In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman
that plastic bags weren't good for the environment and she needed to think
green. 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 than 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 25,000 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.