Singapore Expats

This green thing.

Chats, Flames, Jokes, Junks. Don't know where to post ? You've just found the right place.
Post Reply
User avatar
sundaymorningstaple
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 40356
Joined: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 1:26 pm
Answers: 21
Location: Retired on the Little Red Dot

This green thing.

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Mon, 04 Nov 2013 11:16 pm

When at a store checkout the young cashier suggested that I should bring my own shopping bags in future because plastic bags weren't good for the environment..

I apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days."

The 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, pop bottles and beer bottles to the shop. The shop 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. 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 blunt.
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 shop and office building. We walked to the shop and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two streets.
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 2200watts -- 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 Sentosa. 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 post, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not polystyrene or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol 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 water from a fountain or a tap when we were thirsty instead of demanding a plastic bottle flown in from another country. We accepted that a lot of food was seasonal and didn't expect to have out of season products flown thousands of air miles around the world. We actually cooked food that didn?t come out of a packet, tin or plastic wrapping and we could even wash our own vegetables and chop our own salad.
But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people caught a train or a bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mothers into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical socket 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 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza place.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we oldies 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.

Remember: Don't make old people mad. We don't like being old in the first place,

so it doesn't take much to piss us off ! ! ! :wink:
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

Steve1960
Editor
Editor
Posts: 1106
Joined: Mon, 13 Aug 2012 10:58 am
Location: Singapore

Post by Steve1960 » Tue, 05 Nov 2013 9:23 am

I know its a serious rant but also very very funny. I agree with you 100%

User avatar
Wd40
Director
Director
Posts: 4590
Joined: Tue, 04 Dec 2012 10:53 am
Answers: 1
Location: SIndiapore

Post by Wd40 » Tue, 05 Nov 2013 10:04 am

Nice one, SMS :)

User avatar
sundaymorningstaple
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 40356
Joined: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 1:26 pm
Answers: 21
Location: Retired on the Little Red Dot

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Tue, 05 Nov 2013 1:38 pm

I didn't write it, but it expresses my thoughts as well and it hit me exactly the same as the two of you. That's why I reposted it here.

That and I'm a old crusty curmudgeon anyway! :cool:
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

x9200
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 10073
Joined: Mon, 07 Sep 2009 4:06 pm
Location: Singapore

Post by x9200 » Wed, 06 Nov 2013 3:22 pm

I think what is missing is the disposable bags themselves. At least we did not have them until beginning of 80s I believe so this green "bring your own bag" thing is not a modern invention neither.

Having said that I would expect that even with some very limited (comparing to now) consumer market goods the old days technology was much more wasteful. Things directly contributing to the environmental pollution where basically out of control. All to all, I am not really that sure if the todays green with the tons of disposable products are doing worse to the environment than the old generations.

User avatar
the lynx
Governor
Governor
Posts: 5281
Joined: Thu, 09 Dec 2010 6:29 pm
Location: Location: Location: Location: Location: Location: Location: Location: Location: Location: Location:

Post by the lynx » Wed, 06 Nov 2013 3:28 pm

Totally agree.

Everything is disposable these days.

I bring my own food container to pack food from coffee shops near my place and it took months before the hawkers got used to it/me.

"Hello? I'm helping you to save your styrofoam/plastic bag/plastic container cost and I'm not even asking for discount for my effort."

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Leisure Chat, Jokes, Rubbish”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 18 guests