This one came in over the transom from another ‘old fart’…
In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. 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.
(I can remember checking the ditches on the way to and from school , hoping to find a bottle or three; lots of times I found enough to get a coke for 6 cents out of the machine)
But they didn’t have the green thing back 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.
(And we walked to school even as elementary students (2nd grade on), probably 3/4 of a mile each way. I knew kids that walked at least 2 miles each way, rain or shine)
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.
(And the washing machine was one with a hang wringer on top, no spin cycle or anything else.)
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.
(Our first TV was in 1957 or 8, black and white, and had a 12 inch screen; no toaster oven, no microwave, just a gas stove and oven. And none of the houses I lived in growing up had air conditioning either)
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.
(BTDT)
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.
(They were called ‘fountain pens’, because occasionally they would leak a ‘fountain’ of ink on your brand new shirt; which you STILL had to wear, even with the ink stain. And another reason for pocket protectors you see in all the old pictures.)
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 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
(Even up through junior high in the mid-60s I don’t remember seeing parents driving kids to school other than one boy that was in a wheelchair. And we could get unrestricted driver’s licenses at 15 back in those days…)
But they didn’t have the green thing back then!
Life was not perfect by any means, but the kids didn’t sit glued to the TV/boombox/video games all day; we were outside, traipsing around the neighborhoods, out in the woods (with .22s), and generally out of the house all day until dark (and you learned how to interact with other people face to face, from your peers, to adults to the elderly). And ANY parent that caught you screwing up was gonna beat your butt, then call your parents, which would get your butt beaten again…
And I never screamed child abuse, or threatened to call the cops on my parents (hell, the COPS would have joined in on the butt beating)…
I’m glad I grew up then, rather than now. At least I know how to do things, I can interact with people, I know what work ethic is, and I know about winning and losing…
