I’m sure we’ve all heard some form of the story about having to “walk uphill in the snow, both ways” to school. Heck, I’ve found myself sharing tales of my own and feeling like I was doing it. Pretty much every one of these stories has something to do with how “kids today” have it better than they realize. It’s easy to dismiss these stories and roll your eyes, but things really have changed. Stay with me here, I do have a point.
Something to Make You Think
My sister loves to send me forwarded emails. They’re usually a pretty eclectic mix of things ranging from the inspirational to the outrageous. This week she sent me one that made me think. It was a bit of a rant about young people today blaming all of the world’s ecological ills on the mistreatment of the planet by today’s seniors. It pointed out a few things that I think we sometimes forget. Here are a few of them…
- It used to be common practice to return glass bottles from milk and soda so that they could be cleaned up and re-used. Heck, I remember being a kid and having those returnable bottles stacked up and clanking around in the garage. I never really did understand the attraction of throw away plastic bottles. Drinks just seem a little more refreshing when your using a cold glass bottle!
- In a similar vein, people who drank bottled water were seen as rather snobbish when I was growing up. I’m not ancient, but I don’t think I drank water out of a bottle until I was pushing 30 in the late 90s. I honestly don’t like drinking water out of those little plastic bottles. I drank enough water out of a hose as a kid to fill a swimming pool and I still drink 99% of my daily H2O out of the faucet. I’ve noticed that I’m very much in the minority when it comes to that.
- Here comes the uphill in the snow part. I seriously had to walk about two and a half miles to school every day between 6th and 8th grade. Compare that to buses that run door to door service now. Want to talk emissions?
- Another thing that my sister’s email mentioned was air conditioning. We all pretty much expect it now. Guess what? AC doesn’t run on magical fairy dust. I don’t think anyone in my group of friends had it when we were growing up. That is why being outside was such an attractive option during the summer. We played in the woods a lot because it was cooler there.
The email went on making similar comparisons between “back in the day” and today. I guess my point is that people with an interest in making a planet healthier today can find better ways to spend their time than pointing fingers at the older generation. When your grandfather went to work in a steel mill, he wasn’t trying to poison the atmosphere. He was trying to feed his family. We live and we learn and we do what is needed to get by. No one is perfect. Do what you can to make your little part of the world a better place. Playing the blame game is never really a very efficient use of time or energy.
