Pensioner's lament - why we don't understand

In the queue at the supermarket, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because disposable plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have plastic bags back when I was young." The cashier responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment." The cashier was right -- our generation just didn't care about the damage we might do to the environment when we were young.

But why not?

Simply because...

-- Back then, we returned milk bottles, lemonade bottles and beer bottles and got money back as a reward for our efforts. The shop then sent them back to the factory to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

-- We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an lifts in every store and office building. We walked to the local shops and didn't climb into a 4-wheel drive car every time we had to travel over 400 yards.

-- Back then, we washed the baby's nappies because we didn't have throw-away ones. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling washing machine or drier -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Oh, and don't forget mangles as well! So I guess we really didn't have time to get involved with recycling and energy saving as everyone does today.

-- Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

-- And of course, we were happy with 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 massive LCD screen that doubled for a heating radiator that's continually left on - even during summer.

-- 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 scrumpled up old newspaper to protect it, not plastic bubble wrap.

-- Back then, we didn't start a mower 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. So I guess we really didn't have time to get involved with energy saving and recycling as everyone does today.

-- We drank from a water 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 blunt.

-- Back then, people took a bus and children rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums 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 1,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest fish and chip shop. So I guess we really didn't have time to get involved with energy saving and recycling as everyone does today.

So isn't it sad

So isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't seem to understand how everyone uses and thinks of energy today?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a young person you thinks they know it all - but may have to start learning some harsh realities quite soon.

Remember: Don't make old people mad. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to make us grumpy.

Tongue-in-cheek article published by the Energy Saving Centre after receiving a humorous email on a similar theme. We thought it too powerful a message not to share with everyone.

However, we have since had a response which we thought we ought to publish, just in case we're seen as saying that everything was better back then. We'll let you make up your own mind.