Anyone over the age of 30 should read this..

Whilst working on my blog i come across a reblog of this article on word press, and really just wanted to share with everyone. i found it onthis blog article by gaasedal.

Anyone over the age of 35 should read this, as I copied this from a friends status ..

Checking out at the supermarket recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. I apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlier days“.

The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations“.

She was right about one thing–our generation didn’t have the green thing in “Our” day. So what did we have back then? After some reflection and soul-searching on “Our” day, here’s what I remembered we did have….

Back then, we returned milk bottles, pop 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 repeatedly. So they really were recycled. But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

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 Wales. In the kitchen, we blended & 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 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 water 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 blades 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 bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. 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 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 we old folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing back then?

i found it onthis blog article by gaasedal.

reply to post by ronishia


The blog writer plagiarized it, from someone else that plagiarized it.

Link

It also appears on this site numerous times. 17'000 reproductions of this writing, simply wow.

reply to post by DrunkNinja


lol wow , reworded the op just to say were i found it, loved it either way anyways

reply to post by ronishia


Absolutely great piece of writing, 17'000 copies can't be wrong.

Originally posted by DrunkNinja
reply to post by ronishia

 

The blog writer plagiarized it, from someone else that plagiarized it.

Link

It also appears on this site numerous times. 17'000 reproductions of this writing, simply wow.

edit on 16-1-2012 by DrunkNinja because: (no reason given)

Yes perhaps so but the content is spot on.
Back then (1950s) we walked to school.
Back then the majority people did not have a car - bicycles were more common
Back then we were far less materialiistic and valued new things
We did not throw away socks with holes in them we darned them
Back then we did not have survellience cameras on every street corner.
Neighbours helped one another mostly
the list is endless

You raise a great point. I'm 28 and I remember the transition from a world that knew no better to a world which finally realized that it can completely stuff things up through apathy and inaction. The Exxon Valdez oil spill is one of the very first major news reports I can remember.

However, you can say what you want about Generation Y or the iGeneration, but I still must remind you about which generation currently runs the world and makes all the big decisions.

It's all you guys who are over the age of 35......

So what happened?

What year did u notice change?

What caused this?

Also, back then when I was driving long distance, I had to have a separate map for each town or city I was in, now with sat navs you just press a few buttons and it takes you to the front door with no thought involved .
I used to have a huge color A-Z of London that took up a huge space in my cab, now it's just a small plastic box that issues instructions!

i remember when bus fairs were 20p any distance - now its 1.30 for a single

i remember when u actually had to remember phone numbers, now its the click of a button (on mobiles)

i remember the days u actually had to write a letter to someone to talk to them.

i remember being outside with my friends and making up games to play...

oh how the world has changed lol

reply to post by ronishia


what a memorable reply, thank you for reminiscing the past. The good ole days, I remember walking several miles to meet up with the friends, I grew up in the desert of Cali, we would go get lost all day playing OUTSIDE, remember the dial phone? We had a blck and white TV in living room, it was turned on rarely. Do you remember what the first color television was? A piece of plastic top half was red bottom was blue, you put it on the screen and WA la color television. Ya we pre 80's people boy did we ever abuse earth not knowing green. Its alarming the young are being programmed to believe us older generation didn't care about earth.
I am 50, I remember when I was about 8ish when mom went shopping she brought crates with her to bring the groceries home, there wasn't shopping bags until I was around 11-12 or so
point here we know how to live green already the younger generation has much leading before they get it.

reply to post by ronishia


Lets take a little look see at the polluting ways of older generations.
Got trash? bury it in the woods
Used motor oil? dump it somewhere or bury it in the woods
Cut down all the tree it's ok
Emissions? what are emissions?
Factory need to get rid of chemicals? dump it in the river
Lets make cheap disposable childrens toys with actual liquid mercury in them
Lead paint for all!

ATS'ers feel free to add to the list

Originally posted by 1littlewolf
You raise a great point. I'm 28 and I remember the transition from a world that knew no better to a world which finally realized that it can completely stuff things up through apathy and inaction. The Exxon Valdez oil spill is one of the very first major news reports I can remember.

However, you can say what you want about Generation Y or the iGeneration, but I still must remind you about which generation currently runs the world and makes all the big decisions.

It's all you guys who are over the age of 35......

edit on 16/1/2012 by 1littlewolf because: (no reason given)

Actually, it's the greedy, and power hungry, of our generation that run the planet, and when your generation starts getting into those ages of maturity, it'll be the greedy and power hungry of YOUR generation that's running things.

There'll be some changes, yes, and many changes like bringing your own bag to the grocery store, the green movement, and other such come from influences of the Hippie generation adopted and enacted by Gen X.

You'll find your influence, and press home things that former generations couldn't get got, but brought voice to where you pick the baton.

Originally posted by ronishia
We drank from a water fountain when we were thirsty

Well, not a good idea with all the fluoride in the tap water of some countries.

Honestly, most of the text is once again a gloryfication of the past. "Every thing was soooo much better back then, the world was a place full of shiny happy people. no wars, everything was peaceful and we kids played till it was dark".
Nostalgia really blinds people. If you would go back in time, i bet everybody would be really surprised.

Most of the things the guy who wrote that article mentioned weren't different back then: A Bus System existed back then. Clothes Dryers have been around since at least 50 years, it's nothing new.

And some points i don't understand: Re-Usable bottles are extremely common here in Germany and have been for decades. It's pretty normal to collect the empty bottles, bring them back to the store, they deliver them back to the Breweries and they use them again.
Plastic Bags? Really? As far as i can remember, while Supermarkets also sell plastic bags, but they also sell bags made out of cotton - reusable, washable, perfect. I haven't used a plastic bag in ages.

About the TV and Radio comments: Ever seen how much energy old electronic devices use? Most are made with Valves or other ancient techniques and eat power like crazy. The electronic devices today use less and less energy. Here's a example: My old CRT monitor used 110 Watt, my new TFT only 18,5 Watt. See a difference? Is the old stuff really better?
I remember our really old TV from the early 80's (was a big thing, it's not like big TVs are a new thing) was heating up so extremely it was crazy, because it sucked up energy but only used about 30% of it, the rest went away as heat. And they hadn't any techniques to save energy. Take PCs for today, they just shut down parts of the hardware, slow down the CPU, the GPU to save energy. PCs from 20-30 years ago hadn't that, they always used 100% of the energy, even if only 50% was needed. Really great!

Today we have recharable batteries, back then people bought batteries and threw them in the trash once they were empty. Awesome.

Also the "1 TV thing"...yeah that was maybe true in 1950. It's not like the "2 TVs" is a thing that has been around for only 5 years. We had 3 TVs in our house even 20 years back.

And Recycling hasn't been around back then. Reuse of plastic, packaging, paper...back then everything was either dumped on trash sites or burned to create energy (awesome for the environment and it gave the air such a nice odor!)

What about Cars? Cars back then used a #load of fuel, had no Catalysis...really awesome. You know, a 70's muscle car like a Dodge Charger that drank up 25 liters on 100 kilometers is so much better than a modern car that only needs 8 liters

As said the whole text is nothing more than the glorification of the past with wrong facts and a 'everything was better back then because i wasn't old" thinking.

Originally posted by 1littlewolf
You raise a great point. I'm 28 and I remember the transition from a world that knew no better to a world which finally realized that it can completely stuff things up through apathy and inaction. The Exxon Valdez oil spill is one of the very first major news reports I can remember.

However, you can say what you want about Generation Y or the iGeneration, but I still must remind you about which generation currently runs the world and makes all the big decisions.

It's all you guys who are over the age of 35......

edit on 16/1/2012 by 1littlewolf because: (no reason given)

So would the younger generation give up their cars so thet oil drilling was not wanted.
It is a dangerous idea to blame one generation and think your own more enlightened
Age is not the real issue - It is the mindset of a person and that applys to all ages.
Some old people are wise some fools
Some young people are wise some fools

reply to post by ShadowAngel85


Im trying to say the same thing, but I doubt we will get much of a reply.
There are alot more people in America producing alot less trash and pollution than older generations.

reply to post by ShadowAngel85


no need to bash me i didnt write it only sharing it -

same can be said from both sides of the spectrum, but alas i still miss the days of being a child lol

Originally posted by artistpoet
So would the younger generation give up their cars so thet oil drilling was not wanted.

Why give up cars? Just produce cars that use alternative energys and everything's fine.
For example i really like the design of the Tesla Roadster, a BEV that looks really nice.
It's just that those cars are held back because those greedy (and usually old) idiots still want to sell their oil.

If Chevrolet releases a BEV Corvette i would exchange my normal Corvette for it in a heartbeat.

Originally posted by ronishia
no need to bash me i didnt write it only sharing it

-

Sorry i edited it

Originally posted by ronishia
same can be said from both sides of the spectrum, but alas i still miss the days of being a child lol

It's always the same: As a kid you want to be a grown up, as a grown up you want to be a kid again. Because we tend to forget the negative things (and if it's just that Bully in school who punched you every day) and glorify the positive things

Many of us used to ride our bikes with carrier bags in pockets scouring the towns, back roads, river banks and everywhere else for empty bottles of fizzy drink. Then we'd take them back to any shop that sells them and reclaim 10p for each bottle..

Then there were milk bottle tops or ring-pulls from fizzy drink cans that we collected for certain charities at school.

My family still only had one tv well into the mid 80's. I think we went from b+w to colour somewhere around 1979.

Lots of things listed in the OP I still remember. I still use a 'push it' mower instead of something motorized. Can't see the point of the extra expense when I can keep physically active.

I remember all the news broadcasts of oil spills and dumped toxic chemicals and the uproar that came from it all including the changes in law. I think this was a time that people were starting to actually find a voice and stand up against the big corps instead of living under a shadow of fear.

We had to learn to become green. The big corps were the ones that led us down the route of 'throw-it-away' for their profit making. We followed blindly, we cannot all be blamed for being a part of that generation. We had to wake up, and we did...Many still are arising from a long slumber and reality bites...

Even lead for fishing was changing. There were rules brought in and alternative materials were made for the use of...then along came the fishing license.. All this was designed to stop pollution and fishing line snagging around the feet of water fowl.

As much as many things were bad back then, many others were good.. yet some were both good and bad. Bad in the way that they were/are a pollutant, yet good in the way they form memories of a childhood long gone.. Like the smell of burning coal wafting down almost every street in the deep of winter when everywhere was covered in deep snow as nobody had full central heating systems warming the entire city.

oh, I could go on...

Originally posted by ShadowAngel85

Originally posted by artistpoet
So would the younger generation give up their cars so thet oil drilling was not wanted.

Why give up cars? Just produce cars that use alternative energys and everything's fine.
For example i really like the design of the Tesla Roadster, a BEV that looks really nice.
It's just that those cars are held back because those greedy (and usually old) idiots still want to sell their oil.

If Chevrolet releases a BEV Corvette i would exchange my normal Corvette for it in a heartbeat.

Yes I agree with with the point you make - a very good point regarding alternative energy which is supressed by ones with another agenda. They have children whom they indoctrinate - they grow up and carry forward that agenda.
Truth, honour and respect for all life belongs to all ages.
Let young people be free to express their ideas - for the future is their hands.
My generation was also supressed and ridiculed by mainstream mindlessness but I have not given the cause.