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Translation

I can relate to that!

(This came from my friend Jerry's * Facebook Page, who copied it from one of his friends, who probably copied it from somewhere else. What the Heck. It's all true isn't it? We did bring our own bags and baskets and used to make pocket money by collecting empty bottles. I was also wondering the other day what happened to all the milk horses I suppose they have probably all died of old age).
 
Checking out at the grocery store recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own grocery bags 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 clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations." She was right about one thing -- our generation didn't have the green thing in “Our” day. So what did we have back then…? After some reflection and soul-searching on "Our" day here's what I remembered we did have.... 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 repeatedly. 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? Please post this on your Facebook profile so another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smarty-pants young person can add to this.


* Another Suicide Mission
You may remember Jerry, whom I wrote about at about this time a couple of years ago. Following on from his 2008 success, Jerry is about to set off around Australia again in another precarious airborne contraption to raise awareness about suicide and depression, having almost been a statistic himself, despite being surrounded by family and friends.

One of the real problems in Australia, especially in rural Australia, is the deep sense of isolation and this is compounded by a macho culture, which does not admit personal feelings, especially negative ones. “She’ll be right mate, have another drink.”  While Jerry’s efforts have raised money for counsellors and possibly inspired the Federal Government to allocate more funds to mental health services, one of his primary aims is to bring hope to people, “...living lives of quiet desperation.”

With suicide now a major cause of premature death, greater than road accidents, please give Jerry all the support you can – logistically, moral or financial. Check out the details and the flightplan on Jerry's website  or his Facebook page and support his sponsors too.

The new contraption - A Powerchute. Who knows, you might even get to have a ride.

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