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 or the kitchen sink when we were thirsty instead of using 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 forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart-alick 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!
I got this as an email from an old college friend, and couldn’t resist passing it on. It really does describe my growing-up in a Maine town in the 60′s and 70′s, although some relates even to my mom’s life in the late 40′s and 50′s. And our milkman delivered butter, eggs and bread, too! Is this what you remember?
Need some Maine senior gift ideas? Wondering what senior Christmas presents to get the folks who don’t want a single thing, have too much already, or don’t want to deal with any more stuff? Most older folks don’t really want to add to collections, their drawers are filled with unworn sweaters and their closet holds a stack of slippers.
What makes a good gift? Choose consumables! And that includes time. Here are some quick tips by category:
Food items
Other consumables
Give experiences. And say that you’ll go along, because often seniors want more time with their families. Many seniors like:
Charitable donations
Many seniors appreciate a gift given in their name if they can’t quite afford to support a favorite charity. And the gift doesn’t have to be money. Volunteer at an agency once a month as a gift of time to your older loved one.
There’s no question that losing power in Maine in the winter can have big implications to your water and heating systems. At my house, for example, we have a lot of solar gain and heat with wood, so we’re never cold even when the power’s out. Our water supply is a different story, since the pump is electric. The pipes won’t freeze, which is good, but we don’t have drinking, washing or flushing water. A small generator that powers only the water pump might be our next investment.
Meanwhile, the University of Georgia has written a great article on how to shut down different water-based systems in the event that you’ve lost power and your heat source, and you’re worried your pipes in your water or heating system will freeze.
The Red Cross also has a great article on preventing and thawing frozen pipes.
You might consider printing out the articles as referencez, since you won’t have electricity to read it on the blog!
Thornton Oakes opens its annual fall Residents Choice show Thursday, October 6, with a reception from 4:00-5:30 where the public and residents can meet the artists and collectors who have contributed to this show.
Displays include artwork, rugs, pottery, models, wood carvings and other pieces from the extensive collections of the Thornton Oakes residents. The show will be up through November. Thornton Oakes is at 25 Thornton Way in Brunswick, Maine.
One of my take-aways from the Life@50+ AARP conference I recently attended in Los Angeles came from Chris Gardner’s talk. He is the author of the autobiographical “The Persuit of Happyness” and an advocate for reimagining your life. (His book was turned into a successful movie starring Will Smith. One basic script change: in the movie, the little boy is 6 when Chris Gardner becomes homeless and lives with the child in train station restrooms. In real life, the boy was only 14 months old when Chris started his climb into success as a financial planner.)
He was speaking to an audience of people nearing or in retirement who wanted to consider starting a business, going into a different career or just doing something more positive or different with their lives. “Life reimagined,” says Chris, “starts with recognizing that you can do something about your situation. Don’t let someone else tell you what you can’t do!”
Life Reimagined is the theme of the Life Reimagined Project, a special on-line community that encourages people to share their dreams and challenges.
The key is recognizing that your skills, talents and experience are transferable. “We’re all going to fall, and that’s life. When you get up — that’s life ReImagined. You don’t have to reinvent yourself. Build on the gifts, passions and values you already have.”
I liked his message of viewing the situation from as many perspectives as you can, and then claiming action and doing something to move forward towards your goal. He advocated a 5 C plan of action (clear, concise, compelling, consistent and committed) that made use of even baby steps, as long as you are moving in the right direction!
Here are some thoughts on preparing for this weekend’s stormy weather on the coast of Maine.
In the House
Outside the House
Are you prepared for a hurricane to hit Maine? Home Instead Senior Care is a company offering care and advice for seniors, but their storm season preparation tips are good for everyone. Some of this advice requires quite a lead time, and is designed for seniors in places where evacuation is somewhat more routine than in Maine, but read through it and do what you think is wise!
I LOVE this story. You go, Myrtle!
by Don Babwin, The Associated Press
CHICAGO — Myrtle Rose was just taking a short flight over suburban Chicago when the 75-year-old aviation enthusiast looked out her cockpit window to see two F-16 fighter jets. She assumed the military pilots were just slowing down to get a closer look at her antique plane.
It wasn’t until she got on the ground that friends and the police told her the attention was much more serious — for straying into restricted airspace during a visit by President Barack Obama.
Rose, who tries to fly every day when weather permits, said she had been itching to get back in the air Wednesday after a number of days on the ground. She normally uses her computer to check for any airspace restrictions, but it wasn’t working properly.
Myrtle Rose flies a plane similar to this Piper Cub.
“I hadn’t flown in over a week,” she said. “It was a beautiful afternoon.” After some guests departed her home, she “just climbed in the airplane and left.”
To make matters worse, “I didn’t have my radio on. I was just flying around,” she said.
It all added up to a big mistake.
“There’s really no excuse for not knowing,” said Lt. Col. Mike Humphreys, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which scrambled the two warplanes, a proposition that costs $9,000 an hour for each jet. “Anyone who flies an aircraft should know the restrictions.”
Because Obama was in town for a fundraiser marking his 50th birthday, private pilots were forbidden to come within 30 miles of O’Hare Airport.
When the fighters appeared, Rose wasn’t alarmed.
“I thought, ‘Oh, well, they’re just looking at how cute the Cub is,” she said today in an interview with The Associated Press. The blue-and-yellow plane had won a best-in-class award at the Oshkosh Air Show, a huge annual gathering in Wisconsin.
Another NORAD representative suggested that Rose had no business thinking that a military jet racing toward her had anything to do with the cuteness of her plane.
“The biggest thing to keep in mind is that when F-16s come screaming up to you, they are probably trying to tell you something,” spokeswoman Stacey Knott said.
Rose, who has been flying since the mid-1960s and even performed as a wing walker until five or six years ago, said the jet pilots could not have been more considerate.
Though she never saw their faces — hard to do, she said, when she’s puttering along at about 60 mph and the jets were doing what she figured was about 300 mph — she was impressed with the way the pilot who pulled in front of her kept his distance to avoid rattling her wood-and-fabric plane.
“He was very respectful,” she said.
Rose returned to land at her home in the affluent South Barrington area. Her late husband owned Rose Packing Co., a meat packer that supplies Canadian bacon to McDonald’s restaurants.
Once she was on the ground, some friends rushed over and told her that the rendezvous had nothing to do with the good looks of the plane named Winston. After the aircraft was in the hangar, her yard began filling with police cars.
Rose said she filled out a report with the Federal Aviation Administration, including a note describing how she mistakenly believed the jets were circling to admire her plane. She said she has not heard from the agency.
FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said the investigation would probably take several weeks. Penalties could include a fine or a suspension of her pilot’s license, or the agency might not take any action at all.
Rose, a Republican who said she did not vote for Obama, joked about mailing the president a note for his birthday.
“Oh, dear, maybe I should send him a belated birthday card and say, ‘You should have stayed home and Michelle baked you a birthday cake.’ “
Rose said she does have a bone to pick with NORAD, or whoever released the information about her close encounter with the jets.
“The worst part is they put my age in there,” she said. “I don’t think that was nice.”
