bobbyjohn Loc: Dallas, TX

Taken from Facebook

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment.

The woman 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."

The older lady said that she was right -- our generation didn't have the "green thing" in its day. The older lady went on to explain: 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.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household garbage 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 scribblings. 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 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 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 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 wadded up old newspapers 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 blade in a r azor 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 in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, 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?

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.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

That explains a lot.

mr spock Loc: Fairfield CT

How true. And sad.

rdgreenwood Loc: Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

EXCELLENT!

JimBart Loc: Western Michigan

Good reminder again.
I just had an experience at Mickey D’s the other day. I gave the clerk the correct change after he rang up the sale. He told me he couldn’t accept it because the register told him he could only give me a specific amount of change and he couldn’t change the register and rering the sale. He also asked me why us old people ( I’m only 75) had to be so complicated all the time…. Why can’t we relax

JohnR Loc: The Gates of Hell

Lifes such a bitch - then you die

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I guess Facebook (the source of that post) is for the younger people. When I was a kid a whole house cost $5000. A car might cost $1000. Gas was $0.10-0.25/gallon.

But that was before the "green thing".

And, of course we walked to school through rain and snow. (Starting at age 6 [about 1/4 mile to school] and until I got a bicycle around age 10). Contrary to popular belief, it was not uphill either way.

Scotters59 Loc: La Pine, Oregon

To some extent these things are true, but....
1. That older generation that did all that suffering invented much of that stuff including the plastic bags.
2. Much of that heroic older generation bought into and purchased and possessed those convenient things.
3. Some of those inventions the older generation went without saved us some. Dish washing in a machine is easier, and great for the lazy, but it uses a very considerable less hot water and does the job better that most of those heroic older generation dishwashers.
4. It was a small window of time when the older generation had to heroically suffer watching a handkerchief sized television that they invented and then worked on to make it bigger and bigger.
5. Those huge televisions also used a lot of voltage and have mostly been replaced by big screened televisions that are much more energy efficient on the positive side.
6. I don't believe for even a minute that there are that many homes that have a television in every room. Who these days can afford that many televisions.
7. Escalators and elevators were invented by people in that heroic self-scarifying older generation and demanded they be installed in the stores and buildings. That generation is just as prone to avoid shopping in a 10 story store if there is a similar store all on the same level with no stairs. But then again that youngster did not design 99% of that stuff meant for the lazy stair avoiding types.
8. I could go on and on.

To see the current generation as lazy is a big failure in your ability to see the whole truth, because you fail to see the advantages they have been taught to use by that heroic self-sacrificing older generation who walked 10 miles to school in 10 foot of snow up hill both ways.

This lazy generation buys bicycles, but does not take them to school because they don't want to lose them because the citizens of the past have failed to work hard enough on social issues to make the world safe to take your bike to school and still have it to ride home with.

The younger generation does not as a whole give condescending lectures to little old ladies for needing her groceries in plastic bags that her generation invented to replace those STILL USED and AVAILABLE paper bags.

To be honest, most of us oldsters simply appreciate all those things. Some may believe nostalgically those self-sacrificing efforts made us somehow some kind of heroically better. Most of us simply appreciate that those youngsters are around and see them working the best they can in a world they did not invent and hopefully will work at making the world better than what the older generation attained.

drbarrymary Loc: No. Carolina, Florida

Great article about our time! (my age-82)

Pepsiman Loc: New York City

How true

mgeyelin

Bravo!

JimBart Loc: Western Michigan

Scotters59…. I would still like to see this younger generation endure the hardships of the former generations (WWll, Korea, recessions, unemployment, chilcare, etc) without ANY federal assistance and still bounce back with the resilience and creativity of old. They couldn’t do it….. they can’t even handle simple Covid or lack of stimulus checks

rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines

Notice Scotter's location - that says it all!!!

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

Looks like we are in the same boat!!

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

The correct change!
At that point I would have taken my money back and left. And possibly told the clerk where to put the order.