Baby Boomer’s amazing response after being shamed for ‘destroying environment’

A woman has been widely praised online for her witty and moving comeback after being shamed by a young cashier, who claimed older generations didn’t do enough to help save the environment for younger people today.

The post, which was originally shared on social media earlier this year but has since begun recirculating online, has been hailed as “priceless” as over-60s applaud the lady’s lengthy response – while all sharing their own memories of growing up post-war.

The exchange is said to have begun when the woman attempted to pay for her groceries at the checkout, before being told by a younger cashier that she should have brought her own bags – as plastic ones are harming the environment. Apologising for the oversight, the older lady apparently told the cashier: “We didn’t have this ‘green thing’ back in my earlier days.”

Responding to the innocent comment, the younger woman replied: “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.” Rather than walking away and ignoring the comment however, the customer took the opportunity to detail a series of efforts made by Baby Boomers in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s to ensure they were being sustainable.

From bringing paper bags to stores to collect groceries, to returning milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store to be cleaned and recycled, she managed to list a seemingly endless amount of ways older generations went out of their way to ensure they were as environmentally friendly as possible. See the full post here:

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment. The woman apologised to the young girl and explained: “We didn’t have this ‘green thing’ back in my earlier days.”

The young clerk responded: “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.” The older lady said that she was right our generation didn’t have the “green thing” in its day. The older lady went on to explain: 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 (sic) 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. Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize (sic) our books on the brown paper bags.

But, too bad we didn’t do the “green thing” back then. 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 blade 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 in the family’s $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the “green thing.”

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 (sic) gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger 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?

The post is continuing to go viral several months after it was first shared and it’s garnered more than 400,000 shares and 200,000 reactions on Facebook alone. Responding to the poignant message, several users shared their own memories and applauded the woman for her comeback.

“I surely identify with so much of this…you go girl,” one Facebook user commented while another added: “You forgot the outhouse. No flushed water,” and one wrote: “This is priceless and how true.”

Meanwhile one added: “I am 82 years old, and everything that is said is true, and even having to bathe in a tin bath with the same water used sometimes 3 or 4 times to save hot water,” and one user wrote: “This is such a good post!! I remember using and recycling glass pop bottles. Cans were for beans and vegetables! My mom shopped for groceries for the family, bringing her food home in large paper bags, which she reused and recycled. We never owned a dryer, mom dried her washing on the clothesline . Those were the days!!”