On Being Green

 

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 young 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.

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 schoolbooks.  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 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 throwaway 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. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances.

But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not plastic bubble wrap or Styrofoam peanuts. 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.  After school the kids got together to play baseball, football or hockey depending on the season.  They didn't need an expensive facility to play in, fancy uniforms, or even a coach.  The idea that parents would get up at 5 am and drive their kid 40 miles to an arena for hockey practice would have been inconceivable.  And, we didn't need a computerized 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?

We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to tick us off.

Thank You

Lonely

Over the last 3 years, The Teenager has been going through a lot of struggles and trials.  I have mentioned it in some degrees, but it was hard.  Harder than anyone knew.  I felt so alone through it all, and Sunday, I realized why.

When my children were little and I was struggling with them, I knew there were many other mothers I could go to for advice.  Not sleeping through the night?  Potty training struggles?  Biting?  Diarrhea and vomiting?  I knew all I had to do was ask and there would be plenty of other women who could help me.  I even became part of an email loop of other SAHM moms, and we would whine and complain to each other and we would feel so much better.

But when I was struggling with The Teenager, I couldn’t go to anyone.  His trials were personal to him, and it’s not something that you broadcast publicly.  I talked to my mom some, but I kept a lot from her as well.  I could talk to my husband, but but he didn’t have the answers, and he was gone all day (and most nights).  I couldn’t talk to my email loop moms because none of them are LDS and don’t have the same standards as us, so they wouldn’t understand what the big deal was.

I was very isolated.  And I made it worse because I withdrew.  I quit going to Relief Society activities, mainly because it was too hard to put on a happy face and pretend that everything was fine.  It was a very lonely period in my life. I would cry during the day and then put on a happy face when I was around others.  I prayed a lot, and that definitely helped, but it’s not the same. I desperately wanted someone to talk to, to cry with, to comfort me. 

But there wasn’t anyone. 

Stages

I'm loving this time in my life.  This stage of my life.  My kids are older and I have more freedom.  I'm busy, but it's a different kind of busy.  During the day they are all at school.  I do have work, but even that is flexible.  It is a slower pace than what I used to have. 

But once they get home, the house comes alive.  I am looking at papers and helping with homework and running them places and getting supper ready.  It's not like when they were little and I was busy all day changing diapers and wiping noses and feeding them.  But in a weird kind of way, I miss that.  My kids don't need me anymore.  Well, they need me, but they don't rely on me to help them with everything. 

But now I am envious of the young mom's in my neighborhood.  When I had young children, the neighborhood we lived in had a lot of teenagers, but no little kids.  I felt very isolated.  And now I feel isolated because we are in a neighborhood that has a lot of little kids, but very few teenagers.  My son is 16 and there are no 16-17 year old girls that go to our ward.  There are very few people my age that have kids my age.  It's a very odd feeling. 

It's a different stage of life and there are pros and cons to it, but there are pros and cons to every stage of life.  For instance, I no longer own a stroller.  And that's a good thing!  I just have to adjust.

Sorry

I have been absent this week.  Sorry.  I have been working some extra hours getting a huge bank reconciliation done, and we have had junior high and high school registrations, as well as SEP's for the younger two to deal with.  This is the time that I usually blog (10:00 pm), but I can barely keep my eyes open.  I didn't even get my laundry done today, and I am religious about laundry day!  Oh well, there's always tomorrow.  I will blog more soon.  But work comes first.

Illegal Border Crossings

If you cross the North Korean border illegally you get 12 years hard labor.




If you cross the Iranian border illegally you are detained indefinitely.



If you cross the Afghan border illegally, you get shot.



If you cross the Saudi Arabian border illegally you will be jailed.



If you cross the Chinese border illegally you may never be heard from again.



If you cross the Venezuelan border illegally you will be branded a spy and your fate will be sealed.



If you cross the Cuban border illegally you will be thrown into political prison to rot.



If you cross the U.S. border illegally you get

1 - A job,

2 - A drivers license,

3 - Social security card,

4 - Welfare,

5 - Food stamps,

6 - Credit cards,

7 - Subsidized rent or a loan to buy a house,

8 - Free education,

9 - Free health care,

10 - A lobbyist in Washington

11 - Billions of dollars worth of public documents printed in your language

12 - And the right to carry your country's flag while you protest that you don't get enough respect!
 
 
I am not against people coming to our country.  I just think they should have to do it legally.  I would expect nothing less if I went to their country!

Perspective

Yesterday I was in my kitchen and I dropped something on the floor.  I had to get on my knees to get it and I made the mistake good fortune of looking up at my oven. 
Gross!  Under the handle was nasty!  I then looked at the broiler drawer and pulled it out a little.  Gross! 
When I stood up and looked down, it looked perfectly clean.  But getting down and looking at it from a different perspective showed me how much dirt and grime I had been missing.
When my mom had surgery, I was able to go and spend the day with her in the hospital.  She was not feeling good (duh...just had surgery!) and needed a lot of help.  It felt like such an honor to be there for her.  She kept apologizing after asking for help.  I told her to quit apologizing because it was a privilege to me to be able to help her.
My grandma is in the hospital right now, and her daughter (my aunt) is there helping take care of her.  She put it this way:

"I love my parents so much and it is clear how the circle of life takes us almost back to that helpless stage that we are born into.We lovingly care for our babies and we lovingly care for our aged parents. Mom thinks she is a bother but I feel privileged to have this time with her. She is a beautiful person."

I needed my mom to look at it from a different perspective.  I was thrilled to be there for her.
I think this is true of our lives.  We spend so much time looking at our trials and problems from one direction.  We need to stop and take a look at them from a different perspective.  From an eternal perspective. 
I remember when The Doctor was out of work.  It was Christmas Eve and I was really struggling.  The Doctor gave me a blessing and Heavenly Father told me to be strong because this trial would be for a short time.  I was renewed and excited.  Fast forward to a year later and we were still struggling.  I didn't understand what had happened. 
I forgot to look at my trials with an eternal perspective, remembering that one day for our Heavenly Father is 1000 years.  So for Him, 3 years in my time is about 4 1/2 minutes for him.  So yes, that is a short time in the eternal perspective.
It's all about perception.  Maybe we need to get down on our knees more often to get a better perspective on life.