I could make several criticisms of this piece -- but it makes several good points.

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?

   :applause: :applause: :applause: