Yesterday after shopping in our local supermarket, I was in the queue at the Check Out, and heard when 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 apologised to the young girl & then sighed, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days." The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. You folk didn't do enough to save our environment for future generations." The older lady said "Ahh yes you're right -- our generation didn't have the "green thing" in its day." She sighed then continued: Back then, we returned milk bottles, lemonade bottles & beer bottles to the shops. The shops then sent them back to the plant to be washed, sterilized & refilled, so those same bottles were used over & over, thus REALLY were recycled. But we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day. Grocery stores put our groceries into brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable 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) were not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalise our books on their brown paper bag/covers. But, too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then. I remember how we walked up stairs because we didn't have an escalator in every store or office building; walked to the grocery store & didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go 200 yards. . . . 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 220 volts. Wind & solar power really did dry our clothes back in our 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 radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And if anyone did own a TV, it had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of a football pitch. When cooking we blended & stirred by hand coz we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send by post, we used layers of 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 tap or 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, & 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 bus & kids rode bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mothers into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's expensive car or van, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing".. Oh and 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 leisure park. . . . . But it so sad this current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the "green thing" back then? . . . I think you should forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from some 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 smart ass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much.
Gee Paul, I know I'm getting old but now I feel it. Thanks.
I remember all that plus I also remember the bread being delivered by a horse and cart coming down the street, the man would wrap the unsliced bread in tissue paper and hand it to you. No platic bag around it with a plastic tie or clip, no moster truck delivering it, bugga hey!
I also remeber the milk man doing the same with a horse and cart, puts the bottles of milk on the front door step and takes the old ones away with him to be reused another day, bugga hey!
As a little kid I would go down to the local milk bar and get a small paper bag with lollies in it, no plastic bags, bugga hey!
The same shop would put biscuits in a paper bag from a big tin on the shelf, no plastic bags, bugga hey!
Yep, us 'oldies' were a pack of mongrels.
I think I'll stop there before the tears start running down the face in disgust. Might go have a drink of chemical filled water in a plastic cup.
Ooops, forgot to say. I used to play cricket out in the street and kick to kick footy cos there was no Tv until it was time to go in for 'tea', dinner wasn't heard of in those 'old' days for us mongrels that didn't care about the 'green' thing.
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Gee Paul, I know I'm getting old but now I feel it. Thanks.
I remember all that plus I also remember the bread being delivered by a horse and cart coming down the street, the man would wrap the unsliced bread in tissue paper and hand it to you. No platic bag around it with a plastic tie or clip, no moster truck delivering it, bugga hey!
I also remeber the milk man doing the same with a horse and cart, puts the bottles of milk on the front door step and takes the old ones away with him to be reused another day, bugga hey!
As a little kid I would go down to the local milk bar and get a small paper bag with lollies in it, no plastic bags, bugga hey!
The same shop would put biscuits in a paper bag from a big tin on the shelf, no plastic bags, bugga hey!
Yep, us 'oldies' were a pack of mongrels.
I think I'll stop there before the tears start running down the face in disgust. Might go have a drink of chemical filled water in a plastic cup.
Ooops, forgot to say. I used to play cricket out in the street and kick to kick footy cos there was no Tv until it was time to go in for 'tea', dinner wasn't heard of in those 'old' days for us mongrels that didn't care about the 'green' thing.
Yep, I recall ALL those as well! At least when we visited me granny who lived in "the smoke" of Newcastle!
I rode me bike to school (7 miles on the New England Highway!) - literally grabbed a lift with the "onion truck" whenever I could by catching him at the start of the hill and catching hold of the back of his trailer!
The vego used to come in his truck from Glen Innes, mum'd buy the freshest fruit and veg from him (he grew most of his own). We'd pick peas or pick up spuds for local farmers (at a pay of a couple pounds of product) when the season was on.
We (me and the neighbour, who lived a mile away) would go out shooting rabbits of an evening, and sell the skins to the local buyer. Sometimes, if we were lucky, we'd have enough rabbits to sell to the freezer bloke! Mostly, we kept the carcases and mum used them for stew.
Dad used to milk our own couple cows which ran on the leased railway paddock. Mum made butter and cheese from the cream, and we had homemade ice-cream when there was enough spare milk.
Our water came from the tanks, which collected form the roof. No treatment at all, no chlorine, fluorine, plastic bottles, just turn the tap and fill the glass!
And, we used to make up our "ink" for the pens from a powder which we mixed with water and put in inkwells (one between two kids at school) on the desk.
Dunno how we survived without all the packaging and health warnings on everything!
-- Edited by JA2340 on Saturday 16th of June 2018 06:44:32 PM
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If you had to choose between being fit and drinking wine ...
I always have a chuckle to myself when I am charged, say, $25.40 for an item and I hand over $30.00 plus the 40 cents and expect $5.00 change. The confusion on the young shop assistant's face is always entertaining. It is even worse if the item costs $25.45 and I hand over $30.50.
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 smart ass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much.
I remember when we first went to Canberra, having been told that they were all clever academics there. Our first 2 experiences were a tailgater who would beep me as I did 50kmh in a 50kmh zone, before he flew past & 200m later turned into a driveway where I stopped & yelled out for him to go forth & procreate, much to the amusement of a Telstra worker under his umbrella who cheered me. And the 2nd some young smartar%e who could not work out the correct change to give even with a cash register telling him how much; he just stood there with his mouth open trying to engage his grey matter.
... and when cobbers were 4 a penny (and at least double the size they are now), when a penny dipped in a solution of mercuric sulphate would turn silver and pass for a two-bob bit at the school canteen (and would buy the full lunch-time salad roll!)
and when the cinema used to give you half the ticket back as a "pass-out". A collection of "half tickets" was an absolute fortune because you could use the right one to get in free! Now THAT's recycling!
Counting back change to show that you'd got it right, instead of just chucking the lot into the hand!
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If you had to choose between being fit and drinking wine ...
Dougwe, my grandchildren correct me when I talk about tea its lovely that there are still oldies out there who remember how life was in the good old days.
-- Edited by MOLLUSCAN on Saturday 16th of June 2018 09:43:45 PM
I also remember the time before plastic, the Green thing, TV, and supermarkets etc.
I remember the Lady on an open two wheel horse and cart, delivering the milk
Also the man in the donkey and cart, with a roof attached, coming around to sell ice cream
The sad part about it is that I am only a (nearly), young seventy one years of age
I do not remember plastic bags, prior to about forty years ago
Now we have a plastic crises, with plastic not disintegrating quick enough
The post is only accurate in terms of the technology available to people at 2 different points in time (and it also gave me a bit of a chuckle) but it's not a true reflection on how green individuals were either then or now. The truth be known the technology we tend to criticise our young people for using was probably invented long before they were even born and I can guarantee you that they weren't the ones who decided to change the school curriculum from teaching the basic 3Rs. Today's kids (even my 5 year old grandies) are probably far more concious of their environment than I ever was. Keep in mind that in 1960 the world's population hit 3 billion and now in 2018 it is estmated to be 7.6 billion so maybe future generations will have to return to some of the things that we used to do in the past especially as the planet's resources decline. No way do I agree with all this rubbish that the greenies go on with but I am realistic enough to know that we can all do better. As a kid back in the 60s I used to work in a Coles New World supermarket packing peoples groceries into paper bags there was no plastic in those days and nobody seemed to be any the worse off for it.
Just on Dougwe's "Tea", I'm in my early 60's and where I grew up it was breakfast, dinner and tea, with dinner being the midday meal and tea the evening meal. Cheers.
Just on Dougwe's "Tea", I'm in my early 60's and where I grew up it was breakfast, dinner and tea, with dinner being the midday meal and tea the evening meal. Cheers.
