The cashier smiled and replied, "That's okay, ma'am. Our generation is making efforts to reduce plastic use now."
The older woman continued, "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, sterilized, and refilled so they could use the same bottles over and over. But we didn't have the 'green thing' back in our day."
The cashier nodded, showing understanding.
The woman went on, "Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for many things, most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. But, too bad, we didn't have the 'green thing' back then."
The cashier, now curious, listened attentively.
"We walked upstairs 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, we didn't have the 'green thing' back then."
The cashier, understanding the woman's point, smiled sympathetically.
"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. But, we didn't have the 'green thing' back then."
The cashier, feeling a sense of nostalgia, acknowledged the woman's perspective.
The older woman concluded, "It's good that you young folks are concerned about the environment, but don't be too hard on us for not having the 'green thing' back in our time. It's not like we weren't trying to be environmentally friendly; we just didn't have the options that exist today."
