The 'Green' Thing...Past Vs. Present.

I got this in an e-mail today and just thought I would share it with everyone here. I thought it was interesting...

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THE GREEN THING

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.
The woman 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 -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

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.
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 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 streetcar or a bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms 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?
Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart-ass young person.

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Now I know usually we share our opinions on the articles or stories we post, I would like to hear others first. I got into a lengthy discussion about this little 'story', and I would like to share it without giving my opinion to promote discussion. I will come back in here and keep a close eye and will make sure and to come back in and say my piece about it, I just don't want to muddy the waters.

Any thoughts?

Pred...

reply to post by predator0187


Yes , I think its indicative of the younger generation blaming everything on everyone else.......

2nd line

Interesting and very thought provoking topic. It's hard to say which generation lies at fault here with "the green thing" as I can see an argument for both sides.

Sure we younger generation consumes convenience en masse but apart from the technology barrier that stands between the past and present for the older generation, I believe they're just as much at fault if not more. We grasshoppers have only had it this way for the duration of our lives whereas upon introduction of these conveniences, the older generation made the change seeking that convenience.
I guess in hindsight they would choose the other path but who knows.

Of course there is a third option.
Maybe the blame lies with the producer, not the consumer. These products are put before us whilst at the same time removing our freedom of choice to a degree, hence leaving us with little option.

Hmmm bugger it. I'm on the fence with this as I guess societies ignorance is the key factor so that puts the entire human race at fault.
Damn we suck!!!

Any thoughts?

yes..

i'm 23 years of age so i think i can speak for the new generation.
i think the clerk is really out of touch with reality and the e-mail says more about the clerk than it does about the current younger generation.

not everybody thinks like the clerk in this e-mail did.
i, for one, am grateful for all the things the 'elderly' did in their times.

i DO get the sentiment of the e-mail though, i just disagree with the overall sentiment.

it's a gross generalisation, not every young man thinks like this or has the same feelings/opinion.

just me 2 cents.

It's not a virtue if you didn't have a choice.

Furthermore, the reality of today is the results of the choices of those that came before. This is simply a fact.

I disagree with how the whippersnapper throws it in the older person's face, though. The truth is that all the wasting of resources, pollution, and destroying of the environment that went on were simply unknown in their consequences or are an unfortunate part of living outside the stone age.

I think it shows arrogance on both parts: the young person that her elders just were apathetic and the older person to fail to appreciate that with new technology and more conveniences come different problems.

Both seem to have the need to think that they're somehow morally superior.

Ok this was my response to it...

Hmmm, although this can be quite eye-opening and makes think that back then they were on to this 'green' thing, this is very inaccurate. I am 29, just for clarification...

Number one, very little spoken about in this story has been created by our generation. Dryers were invented in the old woman's time, and then came in bigger in our parents time, as were many of these inventions that she tries to blame the younger generations for. They were created for convenience back when nuclear energy was going to make energy unbelievably cheap and available abundance to us all.

Also yes we have more T.V.'s now but they take up literally a fraction of the power consumption of this old woman's 'green' T.V.'s. With the new LED T.V.'s and the even newer OLED T.V.'s coming out, the power supply for these T.V.'s is becoming less and less all the time. As for the satellites beaming thousands of channels, it's better than laying wires made of various metals and plastics into our soil, so if we can transmit and receive these signals with less wires it is a good thing.

Second, our 300 horsepower machines that get us around are not burning leaded gasoline, which causes and caused a ton of illnesses and had to be banned by our 'non-green' generation. Some of the first automobiles were electric, but were quickly outdone by the internal combustion engine, so we started 'green', then turned to a polluting engine and now the young generation is trying to go 'green' again.

Third, Nagasaki and Hiroshima. How green can blowing up nuclear bombs be in heavily populated areas? And lastly (I could literally think of about 30 things I could go on about), as 'green' generations go, throwing steel appliances with transistors into the dump to 'decompose' doesn't sound very 'green' to me. Recycling has become much bigger nowdays and we are trying to recycle anything we can. Yes, there is much room for improvment, but its better than doing nothing. And what about all the nuclear waste from testing atomic bombs and nuclear reactors that the older generation just dumped into the ocean?

The older generation has poisoned our world and given way to many of our rights, which this younger generation is now fighting to get back. And as they are fighting for their rights back, the sit back and bitch about us being lazy and to go get jobs. While the older generations has done some admirable things, and blaming them for all that is wrong with our generation is wrong, I have to call a spade a spade...

Also, all the people that are running the country and running all of the big businesses that have polluted our world and made us reliant on consumerism are all the older generation. You barely see companies or government officials that are under 35...

Pred...