The Green Thing
Discussion
Checking out at the supermarket, the young cashier suggested to me that i should bring my own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment.
I apologized to the young girl and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days."
The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."
I said that she was right -- our generation didn't have the "green thing" in its day. I went on to explain: Back then, we returned milk bottles, fizzy drink 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.
Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household rubbish bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribbling. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But, too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then.
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 nappies because we didn't have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 240 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 Wembley stadium. 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 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 blade 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 tram or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's £35,000 SUV or MPV, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing." 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 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger 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 smart ass young person.
We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off. Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much!!
I apologized to the young girl and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days."
The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."
I said that she was right -- our generation didn't have the "green thing" in its day. I went on to explain: Back then, we returned milk bottles, fizzy drink 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.
Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household rubbish bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribbling. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But, too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then.
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 nappies because we didn't have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 240 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 Wembley stadium. 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 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 blade 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 tram or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's £35,000 SUV or MPV, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing." 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 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger 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 smart ass young person.
We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off. Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much!!
Edited by glenrobbo on Saturday 19th December 11:47
The times I was told those same things; "if I'd been naughty during the year, I got a lump of coal in my stocking...".
My father made the mistake of repeating one of these 'historical truths' to me in the presence of my grandmother (his mother) once.
I think some of his stories about getting 'the belt' nearly came true that evening.
I was at an age where I had worked out that there was only a smidgen (if any) truth to some of these stories, but I also knew better than to call "bulls
t" on my old man.
In his late 80's he still tells some good ones.
Original work or not; there is truth in everything point made OP.
My father made the mistake of repeating one of these 'historical truths' to me in the presence of my grandmother (his mother) once.
I think some of his stories about getting 'the belt' nearly came true that evening.
I was at an age where I had worked out that there was only a smidgen (if any) truth to some of these stories, but I also knew better than to call "bulls
t" on my old man.In his late 80's he still tells some good ones.
Original work or not; there is truth in everything point made OP.
Goaty Bill 2 said:
The times I was told those same things; "if I'd been naughty during the year, I got a lump of coal in my stocking...".
My father made the mistake of repeating one of these 'historical truths' to me in the presence of my grandmother (his mother) once.
I think some of his stories about getting 'the belt' nearly came true that evening.
I was at an age where I had worked out that there was only a smidgen (if any) truth to some of these stories, but I also knew better than to call "bullst" on my old man.
In his late 80's he still tells some good ones.
Original work or not; there is truth in everything point made OP.
The thing with that is that my father now fervently denies that he ever used the belt or slipper. I clearly remember that he did though.My father made the mistake of repeating one of these 'historical truths' to me in the presence of my grandmother (his mother) once.
I think some of his stories about getting 'the belt' nearly came true that evening.
I was at an age where I had worked out that there was only a smidgen (if any) truth to some of these stories, but I also knew better than to call "bulls
t" on my old man.In his late 80's he still tells some good ones.
Original work or not; there is truth in everything point made OP.
glenrobbo said:
Shoes? Shoes!!??? You had actual SHOES?!!!!
You lucky, lucky bd!
Our Dad bought us some of those Phillips Stick-a-Soles, but they weren't as good as shoes
LUXURYYou lucky, lucky b
d!Our Dad bought us some of those Phillips Stick-a-Soles, but they weren't as good as shoes
Edited by glenrobbo on Saturday 19th December 12:20
we had our feet chopped off and had to walk on hot coals with our stumps.
Jimmy Recard said:
Goaty Bill 2 said:
The times I was told those same things; "if I'd been naughty during the year, I got a lump of coal in my stocking...".
My father made the mistake of repeating one of these 'historical truths' to me in the presence of my grandmother (his mother) once.
I think some of his stories about getting 'the belt' nearly came true that evening.
I was at an age where I had worked out that there was only a smidgen (if any) truth to some of these stories, but I also knew better than to call "bullst" on my old man.
In his late 80's he still tells some good ones.
Original work or not; there is truth in everything point made OP.
The thing with that is that my father now fervently denies that he ever used the belt or slipper. I clearly remember that he did though.My father made the mistake of repeating one of these 'historical truths' to me in the presence of my grandmother (his mother) once.
I think some of his stories about getting 'the belt' nearly came true that evening.
I was at an age where I had worked out that there was only a smidgen (if any) truth to some of these stories, but I also knew better than to call "bulls
t" on my old man.In his late 80's he still tells some good ones.
Original work or not; there is truth in everything point made OP.
They did, otherwise I think we would have been a lot worse lol
In particular I can remember getting a right good clout for nicking a fiver from my mums purse.
The odd thing is that we are all now hard working, educated, generally well spoken people, pretty much exactly how you would want your kids to turn out.
hidetheelephants said:
Monkeylegend said:
glenrobbo said:
Age old green stuff
I see originality isn't one of your strong points
glenrobbo said:
Checking out at the supermarket, the young cashier suggested to me that i should bring my own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment.
I apologized to the young girl and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days."
The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."
I said that she was right -- our generation didn't have the "green thing" in its day. I went on to explain: Back then, we returned milk bottles, fizzy drink 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.
Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household rubbish bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribbling. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But, too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then.
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 nappies because we didn't have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 240 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 Wembley stadium. 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 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 blade 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 tram or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's £35,000 SUV or MPV, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing." 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 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger 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 smart ass young person.
We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off. Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much!!
I apologized to the young girl and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days."
The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."
I said that she was right -- our generation didn't have the "green thing" in its day. I went on to explain: Back then, we returned milk bottles, fizzy drink 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.
Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household rubbish bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribbling. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But, too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then.
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 nappies because we didn't have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 240 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 Wembley stadium. 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 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 blade 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 tram or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's £35,000 SUV or MPV, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing." 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 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger 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 smart ass young person.
We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off. Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much!!
Brilliant, You bought back a lot of memories there!But I do remember the downside to the milk bottles was when the Sparrows pecked through the tops to nick the cream, and those Bottles we used to have at school were horrid by lunch time if they had been out in the sun!
Not actually true though, we did have the green thing, that's why there are lots of movies like Silent Running, Soylent Green, Logan's Run, and TV series like Doomwatch. And there was a scientific consensus of the coming iceage (now erased from history, as being slightly inconvenient).
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