Racerbear02 Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Checking out at the supermarket, the young cashier suggested to the much older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because Plastic bags weren't good for the environment.The woman apologised and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days."The young cashier 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, lemonade bottles and beer bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilised 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 shops bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we re-used for numerous things, most memorable besides household bags for rubbish, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. 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 personalise 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 a lift in every supermarket, shop and office building. We walked to the local shop and didn't climb into a 300 horsepower machine every time we had to go half a mile.But she was right. We didn't have the "green thing" in our day.Back then, we washed the baby's Terry Towel nappies because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 3 kilowatts – wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids had 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 or TV in the house - not a TV in every room and the TV had a small screen the size of a big handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of Scotland 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 petrol just to cut the lawn. We pushed the 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, 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 in the family's £50,000 ‘People Carrier’ which cost the same as 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 computerised gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest Pub!But isn't it sad that 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 arse young person...named ChardenayWe don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to [sample] us off...especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartarse who can't work out the change without the cash register telling them how much it is!Or am I getting old ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine_2 Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 You tell them Racerbear! Brilliant and it certainly made me think. I wish I could remember it by heart to use on some of these young uns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 There's a great deal of truth in the above, of course, but then along with all those things listed, society has also lost and gained...hands up who would like to see the return of Coal fired heating as the only source of warmth (if you were lucky!)Outside toiletsPolio and a raft of other life-threatening diseasesSmogto name but a very few.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cendrillon Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Well put Betty and although some things seem to have got out of hand in this day and age we do now have a lot to be thankful for. I for one would not return to the olden days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard51 Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 You are just getting old. I applaud the young cashier who advised using recycling bags. In the "old days" I doubt if anybody gave a second thought for the environment. Take the Potteries (SOT) as an example. I can remember how smoky and unhealthy the area was. Now, although its not the best, the air is at least cleaner.NB - With the job situation as it is, I wouldn't be surprised if the cashier had excellent qualifications in maths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racerbear02 Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 They section of the forum I posted this in is called 'The Lighter Side '[Www]I am only 60 [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Aha! so you ARE old! [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 And I still have outside toilets and they aren't heated. This is to reduce the risk of explosion .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 We used left over rolls of wallpaper to cover our school books.How true a lot of that was but as also mentioned, there were the bad things too and lack of tolerence towards fellow human beings such as pregnant single women,gay folks and the handicapped who were all lumped together under one heading of retarded instead of being called Down's children or cerebral palsy etc,we have come a long way in leaving the ignorance behind since back then!I am just reading Philomena which has been made into a film and it was a good example of how actually bad the 50's and 60's were back then, especially in Ireland but we did all live within our means mostly and did not expect the latest must have every few months like many kids do these days and their parents! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 [quote user="NormanH"]And I still have outside toilets and they aren't heated. This is to reduce the risk of explosion ....[/quote]Confirming the old adage often heard on these forums "France is just like the UK used to be 50 years ago..." [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I'm quite old and I do agree with the young person pulling up the older one........... good for them.What does annoy me to death is the use of babies disposable nappies, and they should not be 'normal' usage. Now that is something that I could get on my high horse about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pommier Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Gosh, that's been around the world a few times, certainly since 2009!On the whole I think there is more recycling these days than in the 1960's but I agree with Idun on disposable nappies - what a waste of resources and money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbie Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 While I agree that we should use fewer plastic bags to take our shopping home I suspect that there are other areas that should be tackled first and would have a bigger effect. These include the amount of plastic packaging everything seems to come in nowadays - some of which seems extremely difficult to get into. Also many magazines and professional journals arrive wrapped in plastic. Why can't they be wrapped in recyclable paper instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 To be fair, the best way to avoid waste when talking about magazines and journals is to make them available online. Saves trees, print, postage, delivery and not least it saves having to dispose of them after reading in a responsible manner. I try very hard not to buy overpackaged foods, especially fruit and veg. I can't understand why UK supermarkets insist, for example, on individually plastic-wrapped cucumbers. What IS that about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tancrède Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 [quote user="Pommier"]Gosh, that's been around the world a few times…[/quote]Indeed. But the old ones are the best. And it is extremely informative and interesting to see how the text has mutated and developed since Chancer previously presented it here in 2011. The 'People Carrier' has now deservedly come to the fore as a symbol of wasteful vulgarity. And the cashier has had a sex change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 [quote user="Gengulphus"]And the cashier has had a sex change.[/quote]Well, they're a lot more widely available now than they were in the 50's[:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoddy Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Oh the joys of outside loos. Ours was a two-seater down the yard and we kids had our own little hurricane lamp. On the nights when I was too afraid of the bogey man I used to try to persuade one of my brothers to come with me.I went through the Potteries once on a Sunday School trip. To a bumpkin like me they seemed like another planet. I wouldn't want to go back to those days.I think the worst pollution is the number of fields that have been built on. I worry about where our food is going to come from in the future.Hoddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thibault Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Of course with all the emphasis on using smart phones, tablets and computers to 'reduce paper', does anyone give any consideration to the amount of energy needed not only to produce these gadgets, but also to run them 24/7?It is the same with the electric cars which will save the planet - where is the electricity produced and from what source? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowland Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 When I was working a new computer system was introduced to the office and we were told during our training that we would now become a 'paperless office' as everything would be done on the system doing away with the need for clerical records. No-one mentioned the reams of paper that came off the printer daily to 'back up' the system records and provide a list for checks that needed to be carried out on work done. These prints had to be kept for a minimum of eighteen months causing a need for storage facilities and extra staff to file them.Progress? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardengirl Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Yes, it's an old one, but none the worse for that - I enjoyed a re-read, and shuddered to think how we used to have to go down the yard for the 'lav', with just the one for the 3 families in the rented house we all shared! Here's another old one this thread reminded me of: Survivors (for those born around or before WW2) We were born before television, penicillin, polio jabs, frozen foods, contact lenses, videos and the pill.We were born before credit cards, split atoms, laser beams and ballpoint pens, before dishwashers, tumble driers, electric blankets, air conditioning, drip-dry clothes and before men walked on the moon.We got married first and thenlived together (how quaint can you be?). We thought ‘fast food’ was what youate in Lent, a ‘Big Mac’ was an oversized raincoat, and ‘crumpet’ was what weate for tea. We existed before house-husbands and computer dating, and‘sheltered accommodation’ was where you waited for a bus. We were born before day carecentres, group homes and disposable nappies. We never heard of FM radio,artificial hearts, word processors, or young men wearing earrings. For us,‘time-sharing’ meant togetherness, a ‘chip’ was a piece of wood or friedpotato, ‘hardware’ meant nuts and bolts and ‘software’ wasn’t a word. ‘Made in Japan’ meant junk,‘making out’ referred to how you did in your exams, ‘stud’ was something thatfastened a collar to a shirt, and ‘going all the way’ meant staying on adouble-decker bus to the terminus. In our day, cigarette smoking wasfashionable, ‘grass’ was mown, ‘coke’ was kept in the coalhouse, a ‘joint’ wasa piece of meat you ate on Sundays and ‘pot’ was something you cooked in. ‘Rockmusic’ was a fond mother’s lullaby, a ‘gay’ person was the life and soul of theparty, while ‘aids’ meant a beauty treatment, or help for someone in trouble. We who were born around orbefore WW2 must be a hardy bunch, when you think how much the world haschanged and the adjustments we have had to make. No wonder there is ageneration gap! But………..by the grace of God we have survived! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 [quote user="Hoddy"]Oh the joys of outside loos. Ours was a two-seater down the yard and we kids had our own little hurricane lamp. On the nights when I was too afraid of the bogey man I used to try to persuade one of my brothers to come with me.I went through the Potteries once on a Sunday School trip. To a bumpkin like me they seemed like another planet. I wouldn't want to go back to those days.I think the worst pollution is the number of fields that have been built on. I worry about where our food is going to come from in the future.Hoddy[/quote]I bet you were "posh" and put the tissue paper that tangerines came wrapped in at Xmas in the loo ! I am so glad the fabrics used when I was a kid are gone ...Gaberdine raincoats that were useless for a start.. Having to set off in short trousers through snow drifts to walk to school .Remember drying rooms in schools? ....Coats were still damp to put on when going home ...its a wonder we all survived ... If social services existed then they would rushed off their feet . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frecossais Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 It always seems funny to me when I read these "boasts" of the way we (some of us ) lived in our childhoods. We got rid of most of the inconveniences during the space of less than a lifetime, replacing them with new ideas/gadgets etc to make our lives easier, and which then became inconvenient in a different way.Wish I could see into the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiefluvvie Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Well - firstly, I'd have fired the cashier for being rude and disrespectful to a customer - not in his/her remit to pass personal opinions. And, secondly, plastic bags come way, way down my list of what's really important - couldn't care less about them.Chiefluvvie :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoddy Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 I'm not proud of my poverty stricken childhood. If we'd ever had a tangerine I think we'd have found the paper too useful as tracing paper. We used the Radio Times which wasn't shiny in those days.The trouble is if you were brought up in those times it's a bit difficult to take some of today's nonsense seriously. Wasting electricity is one that springs to mind. We rarely had more than one light at a time on and now I see large empty office blocks with lights blazing all night. Funny old world - I wouldn't want to go back in time.Hoddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lehaut Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 You can call me Betty Confirming the old adage often heard on these forums "France is just like the UK used to be 50 years ago..."Yes indeed, made me laugh when some French friends who are going to Portugal said it was "just like France was 20 years ago..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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