Heyo~
This can be a controversy, but I just wanted to share it because I found it agreeable. Sometimes we don't think about what we say to our elders, let's not believe that the world today is more environmentally friendly than before. ;D
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 truely 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. 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 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 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?
Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartass young person.
We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to tick us off.
What do you think? More environmentally friendly now or before?
Thanks for reading. ^__^
Heyo all~!
I just wanted to say thank you to those who read and commented in my last post! All the comments posted where a thrill to read and it was great to see some insights from the people around theO! :D
Now comes another controversy; The Death Penalty. [Warning: May be sensitive to some people]
I know in the USA, there are many states that still use capital punishment as a mean of punishing those convicted of aggravated assualt (the crime of physically attacking another person which results in serious bodily harm and/or is made with a deadly or dangerous weapon such as a gun, knife, sword, ax or blunt instrument) and in some cases, felony murder (a crime sufficiently serious to be punishable by death or a term in state or federal prison, as distinguished from a misdemeanor which is only punishable by confinement to county or local jail and/or a fine; considered 'high crimes'), but recently in Canada, there has been some talk about making capital punishment a reality to those that when there is irrefutable evidence that a child was murdered with forethought, the murderer should lose their right to live within our society and should be put to death. There is currently a petition going around about making this proposition a reality.
Do you believe that we have the right to take away another person's (no matter how horrendous) life?
If you haven't heard/read the details, the overview of the story can be read below:
Victoria "Tori" Elizabeth Marie Stafford was an eight year old Canadian girl abducted from Woodstock, Ontario on April 8, 2009, and murdered. She was last seen on security camera footage walking with Terri-Lynne McClintic.
Her disappearance and the subsequent investigation and search were the subject of massive media coverage across Canada. The search for her body ended on July 19, 2009, when a child's remains were found in a wooded area in rural Ontario and were immediately believed to be those of Tori Stafford. This was confirmed in a news conference held July 21, 2009. The police response to the situation as it developed and their failure to announce an Amber Alert has been criticized by the public, and has recently been the focus of a review of the Amber Alert system in Canada. The circumstances of her death were a mystery until a publication ban was lifted in December 2010.
She was seen for the last time at about 3:32 pm Wednesday, April 8, 2009, on Fyfe Avenue, walking past a high school up the street from Oliver Stephens Public School. She was wearing a black Hannah Montana jacket with a white fur-lined hood, a green shirt, denim skirt, black and white shoes and carrying a purple and pink Bratz bag.
A security video taken from the high school shows her walking with a person of interest. The person of interest is described as a white female aged between 19-25 - 5'1 to 5'2 tall and weighing approximately 120-125 lbs with straight long black hair worn in a pony tail. She was wearing tight black jeans and a white puffy jacket. The case was later featured on America's Most Wanted.
The initial investigation was led by Oxford Community Police Service, but then turned into a joint operation with the Ontario Provincial Police.
On Tuesday, July 21, 2009, at 9:00 am police confirmed the remains found near Mount Forest, Ontario, approximately 500 meters from Concession Road 6, were that of Tori. Video and photographs of the scene where the remains were discovered Stafford was found naked from the waist down, wearing only a Hannah Montana T-shirt and a pair of butterfly earrings that she had borrowed from her mother.
During an autopsy it was determined that Tori had suffered through a beating that caused lacerations to her liver and broken ribs. Her eventual death was the result of repeated blows to the head with a claw hammer. It has also been suspected that she was sexually assaulted (raped) before her death by her killer, Michael Thomas Rafferty.
Michael, though charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, and first-degree murder of Tori, has claimed he is 'not guilty' and so, the trail resumes presently. It is beyond a reasonable doubt that Michael is guilty of this crime, yet still he denies the fact, despite biological proof, DNA tests and witnesses. He has been seen to causally listen to the jury during court and even mocked Tori's family by wearing Tori's favourite colour T-shirt on her 3 year anniversary of her death. To read more click here. Warning: Graphic content!
Many Canadian's are asking the Prime Minister for this man's death. What is your take on it?
Heyo~! First post! So let's get right to it~~
Meet Paul Gomille. He's 17 and like the many thousands of teen-aged males out there he loves video games, and at times, enjoys school; however, he did something on last month so 'terrible' that he got suspended for it. Wait for it...
He wrote a letter.
That's it? You might ask?
Nope. He wrote a letter to all the females in the world and read it aloud to his classmates. The letter is posted below, please take a few minutes to read what this student wrote.
Paul Gomille's letter:
Could I please have your attention for a few moments? I guarantee you won’t regret listening to what I have to say. You definitely won’t regret hearing this in your life time, especially from a man of dignity. It’s an idea that I have held close to my heart even before the kilt controversy arose in the media. This message is not meant to address the kilt controversy directly by any means, but rather, this message is a general and all-encompassing statement. It is a message about the qualities that really matter in a woman, and what really makes a woman attractive. Although this speech has some relevance to the way women dress and present themselves nowadays, the message in this speech goes far beyond one’s preferences, or feelings of pressure, as it relates to the way they dress, and it goes far beyond any concept of modernity. It strikes at the very core of humanity itself, in an attempt to make a revelation of truth apparent to all of you, with awe inspiring certainty. If you read this, and receive anything less than a feeling of absolution from it, then I have committed a grave sin, a sin against myself and a sin against all of you.
The people this message concerns are the young women of this school, and of the world. In particular, it concerns the silent ones, the intelligent ones, the ones that don’t talk about people behind their backs, the ones that guys don’t flock to in droves, the ones that don’t dress in revealing clothing, the ones who would love to be in love, and the ones that are continually disappointed in their appearance because the only thing they have to compare themselves to are the women that have been put on pedestals by our society. This message also concerns those of you who may consider yourselves the so called “opposite” to the demographic I just described. The ones who do dress in revealing clothing, and the ones who try to fit in with the crowd.
You don’t need to dress or act a certain way to fit in, to feel attractive, or to BE attractive. You’re all far more attractive than you realize. All of you. But that’s not to say that you should all dress in revealing clothing. No, not at all. Sure, a girl who dresses that way might turn a few heads, and get some compliments. But real attractiveness doesn’t come from wearing the latest fashion, and it doesn’t come from being scantily clad in public, or putting on make-up, or having a pretty face, or a nice body. No. Real attractiveness comes from having a certain dignity. It comes from having class. It comes from being true to yourself, being yourself, and being comfortable in your own skin. This message is for all young women within the sound of my voice and beyond. You’re all beautiful. You all have inner beauty AND outer beauty.
Wait! There's the other side to the coin! >3
Meet Heather Mallick, a columnist at a popular newspaper company. She 100% disagrees with Paul because, well, I'm sure you could understand why from the post she posted on her blog, shortly after reading Paul's letter.
Heather Mallick's Response:
There’s a kind of man universally unpopular with women. He is Controlling Man. Just say “he’s kind of controlling” to your women friends and they hiss and draw back as if they’d been sprayed with lemon juice.
From whence do controlling men come? I always wondered and now I know. Paul Gomille, a 17-year-old student at Archbishop Denis O’Connor Catholic High, wrote a message to the girls and women at his school, a declaration that he claimed “strikes at the very core of humanity itself, in an attempt to make a revelation of truth apparent to all of you, with awe inspiring certainty.”
Really, Martin Luther could take lessons from this guy. Who taught him this nonsense?
This is a school with a trustee who recently complained that female students were wearing their uniform skirts too short, a news story that earned me much emailed agreement from creepy middle-aged men who ride the subway in search of thighs to deplore. So Principal Donna Modeste was initially open to a nice speech about inner, as opposed to outer, beauty.
But some bits were troubling. Modeste told him to skip the section where he appears to target girls he dislikes by praising the ones who win his approval: “the silent ones, the intelligent ones, the ones that don’t talk about people behind their backs, the ones that guys don’t flock to in droves, the ones that don’t dress in revealing clothing (bold mine). . . ”
Amazingly, she was said to be okay with this little SlutWalk Starter in Miniature sentence: “Attractiveness doesn’t come from wearing the latest fashion, and it doesn’t come from being scantily clad in public, or putting on makeup, or having a pretty face, or a nice body. No. Real attractiveness comes from having a certain dignity.”
In the event, Gomille refused to obey Modeste, passed out what sounded like “Dress Down to Win Me as a Boyfriend” in the cafeteria and was suspended for two days because — and this is what I admire about the Catholic system — they don’t worry about popularity. Students will obey. High praise to Modeste.
Gomille, dressed in dark pants, a grey hoodie and navy jacket, dresses like all teenage boys, nondescriptly. In his Star photo against a grey Ajax sky, he looks like a disembodied head. He seems perfectly pleasant. At 17, I would have gone out with him, right up till he told me my dress was too revealing, at which point I would have run away, as girls will, and this well-intentioned young man will learn that.
Gomille’s older sister, Alexandra, says he is quiet, enjoys video games and as far as she knows has no girlfriend. But suddenly he’s the editor of Vogue?
Females from age 2 to 92 speak as one: We do not care to hear male opinions on our clothes unless it’s “You look fabulous in that. Radiant. Wow.” When we ask you if the sweater works with the scarf, the word we want to hear is “yes.” And then, frankly, we’ll change the sweater. If he’s a Controlling Man who says it’s too tight or uses the phrases “no wife of mine will . . . ” we detach.
Women often shop for men, and I shudder to think how men would dress if they didn’t. Most men can’t even enter shops to buy their own pants. So why judge women’s clothing?
“It’s the great misogynist trick,” says Linda Grant, whose 2009 book The Thoughtful Dresser analyzes women’s love of fashion. “I won’t take it from those men who judge and condemn women for the various failures of our appearance while simultaneously barking that only feeble shallow creatures such as women would pay any attention to how they look.”
Gomille may be 17 but he sounds 102 and we hear from males like him all our lives. They’re correctors, judges, buzzkills. Mothers sound like this too, for different reasons. “You’re going out in that, Cyndi Ahmadinejad? Over my dead body!”
There’s a worrying prescriptiveness in Gomille’s unasked-for definition of how his fellow students should dress. We women are half the world. In the workplace men and women stand side-by-side and are gradually learning how to accommodate each other’s differences.
Keep your advice to yourself, preacher. Trust me, girls like that in a boy.
Well those are the two sides of the coin guys! I leave it up to discussion/voicing your take on this topic. I look forward to reading your opinion on this! Take cares~
P.S. If you also want to comment on what you thought of the first post. What you liked/dislike and what you think I can improve :D Thank you very much! *bows*
