A True Blue Sustainable Advocate For Green Environment
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 toexplain: 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 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 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?
Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart ass young person.
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.
Fun Facts
‘A SHOT OF WHISKEY’
In the old west a .45 cartridge for a six-gun cost 12 cents and so did a glass of whiskey.
If a cowhand was low on cash he would often give the bartender a cartridge in exchange for a drink. This became known as a “shot” of whiskey.
‘THE WHOLE NINE YARDS’
American fighter planes in WW2 had machine guns that were fed by a belt of cartridges.
The average plane held belts that were 27 feet (9 yards) long. If the pilot used up all his ammo he was said to have given it the whole nine yards.
‘BUYING THE FARM’
This is synonymous with dying.
During WW1 soldiers were given life insurance policies worth $5,000.
This was about the price of an average farm so if you died you “bought the farm” for your survivors.
‘IRON-CLAD CONTRACT’
This came about from the iron-clad ships of the Civil War.
It meant something so strong it could not be broken.
‘PASSING THE BUCK / THE BUCK STOPS HERE’
Most men in the early west carried a jackknife made by the Buck Knife.
When playing poker it as common to place one of these Buck knives in front of the dealer so that everyone knew who he was.
When it was time for a new dealer the deck of cards and the knife were given to the new dealer.
If this person didn’t want to deal he would “pass the buck” to the next player. If that player accepted then “the buck stopped there”.
‘RIFF RAFF’
The Mississippi River was the main way of traveling from north to south.
Riverboats carried passengers and freight but they were expensive so most people used rafts.
Everything had the right of way over rafts which were considered cheap. The steering oar on the rafts was called a “riff” and this transposed into riff-raft – or riff-raff, meaning low class.
‘COBWEB’
The Old English word for “spider” was “cob”
SHIPS’ ‘STATE ROOMS’
Traveling by steamboat was considered the height of comfort. Passenger cabins on the boats were not numbered. Instead they were named after states. To this day cabins on ships are called staterooms.
‘SLEEP TIGHT’
Early beds were made with a wooden frame. Ropes were tied across the frame in a criss-cross pattern. A straw mattress was then put on top of the ropes. Over time the ropes stretched, causing the bed to sag. The owner would then tighten the ropes to get a better night’s sleep.
‘SHOWBOAT’
These were floating theaters built on a barge that was pushed by a steamboat. These played the small towns along the Mississippi River. Unlike the boat shown in the movie “Showboat” these did not have an engine. They were gaudy and attention- grabbing which is why we say someone who is being the life of the party is “showboating”.
‘OVER A BARREL’
In the days before CPR a drowning victim would be placed face down over a barrel and the barrel would be rolled back and forth in a effort to empty the lungs of water. It was rarely effective. If you are over a barrel you are in deep trouble.
‘BARGE IN’
Heavy freight was moved along the Mississippi in large barges pushed by steamboats. These were hard to control and would sometimes swing into piers or other boats. People would say they “barged in”.
‘HOGWASH’
Steamboats carried both people and animals. Since pigs smelled so bad they would be washed before being put on board. The mud and other filth that was washed off was considered useless “hog wash”.
‘CURFEW’
The word “curfew” comes from the French phrase “couvre-feu”, which means “cover the fire”.
It was used to describe the time of blowing out all lamps and candles before sleeping for the night.
It was later adopted into Middle English as “curfeu”, which later became the modern “curfew”.
In the early American colonies homes had no real fireplaces so a fire was built in the center of the room. In order to make sure a fire did not get out of control during the night it was required that, by an agreed upon time, all fires would be covered with a clay pot called-a “curfew”.
‘BARRELS OF OIL’
When the first oil wells were drilled they had made no provision for storing the liquid, so they used water barrels. That is why, to this day, we speak of barrels of oil, rather than gallons.
‘HOT OFF THE PRESS’
As the paper goes through the rotary printing press, friction causes it to heat up. therefore, if you grab the paper right off the press, it’s hot. The expression means to get immediate information.
There, don’t you feel smarter now?
Not What You Think
My grandfather, who often liked to reminisce about his younger days, was telling me about the day that he saw the Titanic:
He said that as soon as he saw it he knew something was wrong and he tried warning everybody that it would sink, but nobody paid any attention to him.
He kept on trying to warn people, but still everyone just ignored him.
But, he was a determined man, and he kept on and on warning people, again and again, until eventually…..
They threw him out of the cinema! 🤣🤣🎦🎦
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