I am not that old, and at my age I remember: bottles returned to the store, drinking water from the creek and water hose, one black and white TV in the family room (no not on a TV tray), popcorn was made on the stove, not in the microwave, phones had cords and you only had to push the last four digits to dial your neighbors, escalators were a novelty because they were rarely seen, McDonalds (or really Burger Chef) was a treat because it was so rare to eat out, our vegetables came from my grandparents farm, I have mowed with a push mower (non motorized variety).  I remember watching movies on Laser Discs (first one was Jaws), but most movies were seen at the Drive-In and listening to music on 8 track tapes.  Games were played with a board or cards, not a controller.  I spent all summer at my grandparents where there were enough kids for two baseball teams and we would play baseball nearly every day, ride bikes, climb trees, and swim in the lake.  We were rarely inside on a beautiful day.  If we were inside we were reading or playing with toys.  When I did watch TV it was as a family in the one room with the TV and it was a show that my parents didn’t have to worry about too much sexual content or language.

I LOVE a lot of the modern conveniences.  If you took my Kitchen Aid stand mixer I may have to hit you with my iron skillet.  I am quite the techie, so therefore very guilty.  However I miss a lot of simplicity of 30 years ago.  I guess the lesson is, if you don’t like where the world is today, work on your own family.  I am saying this more to myself than anyone else.  If we take this lesson to our own homes instead of criticizing others, imagine how different the world would be in short order.

Remember after 9/11, families spent time together watching non-violent shows and the American flag hung in front of nearly every house.  Although we said would never forget, when I drive in my neighborhood, appearances are, we already have. 

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In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment.  The woman apologized to him and explained, we didn’t have the green thing back in my day.

The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today.  The former generation did not care enough to save our environment.”

He was right, that generation didn’t have the green thing in its day.

Back then, they returned their 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 they didn’t have the green thing back in that customer’s day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks. 

But she was right. They didn’t have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby’s diapers because they didn’t have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right, they didn’t have the green thing back in her day. 

Back then, they 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, not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn’t have electric machines to do everything for you.

When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she’s right, they didn’t have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they 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 rode the school bus instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.  They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they 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 the old folks were just because they didn’t have the green thing back then?