That’s a take off of a movie named ‘How Green Was My Valley’ made in 1941. Now I’m not that old, but I’m old enough to know exactly what is being said below. I got this story from another blog I follow written by a neat lady named Lynn Baber - http://lynnbaber.net
Lynn is a horse woman, a great writer and a Christian who lives her faith. I highly recommend her blog.
For those of you under 50 being ‘green’ is not that new. In fact those of us who are up in our years, our parents, grandparents and so forth lived ‘green’ lives long before the term ‘green’ was ever coined.
Here’s what I stole from her. According to Lynn it comes from an unknown author.
The Green “Thing”
In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she
should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for
the environment.
The woman apologized to him and explained, “We didn’t have the green
thing back in my day.”
The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. The former generation
did not care enough to save our environment.”
He was right, that generation didn’t have the green thing in its day.
Back then, they returned their 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 they didn’t have the green thing back in that customer’s 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 was 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 handkerchief, 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 a wadded up old 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 their writing 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 or a bus 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 isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the old
folks were, just because they didn’t have the green thing back then?
5 comments:
I remember the day when The Computer arrived in our home. We put it off for years because we just didn't see the point. And even after The Computer arrived, I avoided it because I was afraid of it's modern-ness, and didn't see how it could add to my life.
I remember being nervous about clicking on buttons and links, worried about blowing the thing up. I remember the wonder when I discovered something interesting to read or learn about on The Computer. I hadn't even bought a Digital Camera yet.....
Sometimes I miss life before The Computer. Sometimes I miss playing records on my old record player, browsing through my Welcome Back Kotter record box....
I think I will pull them all out this week, just for nostalgia's sake.
My kids should get a kick out of my old relics. :)
~Lisa
Where is all that stuff? I would be happy to take back real glass milk bottles that could be used again, but it isn't an option anymore. It would be great if we had neighborhoods that include the shops and stores they need instead of homes in vast tracts and businesses in ugly clusters. I like air conditioning and computers and so on, but some of those "old-fashioned" things should still be here!
When I was a kid the only thing we plugged into the wall was the fridge, the TV with big tubes, and the lamps. I don't think my friends or I ever played with anything that had a cord or even batteries.
Oh, and our washing machine, but not my grandmother's. Clothes dried outside on the line. No need for dryer sheets.
And, remember ice boxes that really had ice in them?
Oh yes! Thanks for reminding me of another cool(literally) memory.
I remember going with my parents to the local ice house, driving up to the platform and a guy coming out with huge tongs and placing a big block of ice in a box for us to take home for our freezer/ice box.
~Lisa
If anyone wants to experience the 50s again they should come to Germany.
Shoppers bring their own bags/baskets to the store (and do their own bagging!). I actually miss those free ubiquitous plastic grocery bags.
No disposable dishes/cups, ever. Church potlucks, summer grill parties use real china and silverware. Even street fairs/Christmas markets give you a glass to drink from for an extra, refundable fee when you return it.
We cart all our water bottles back to the stores every week.
Our soda bottles are rewashed, restickered, and refilled. They never look new and shiny.
No Air Conditioning, anywhere.
Most people use trains instead of cars, and only the upper class own clothes dryers. We are not in this class.
If you ask for a doggie bag at a restaurant, you will not get a styro box in a plastic bag with the company's logo on it, you'll get your schnitzel wrapped up in a piece of tin foil.
Shut-down Sundays. The Lord's day still exists here as a day of enforced rest.
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