planted Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 This article appeared in the Huffington Post over the summer, and it has gone viral. It is entitled 'Words for Teenagers', but I think we all can benefit from these words. Northland College principal John Tapene has offered the following words from a judge who regularly deals with youth. 'Always we hear the cry from teenagers, "what can we do, where can we go?"' "My answer is this: go home, mow the lawn, wash the windows, learn to cook, build a raft, get a job, visit the sick, study your lessons, and after you've finished, read a book. Your town does not owe you recreational facilities and your parents do not owe you fun. The world does not owe you a living, you owe the world something. You owe it your time, energy and talent so that no one will be at war, in sickness and lonely again. In other words, grow up, stop being a cry baby, get out of your dream world and develop a backbone not a wishbone. Start behaving like a responsible person. You are important and yes you are needed. It's too late to sit around and wait for somebody to do something someday. Someday is now and somebody is you!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super_fly_16 Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 im a teenager but we didnt make the world the mess it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggie29 Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 im a teenager but we didnt make the world the mess it is. Perhaps, but if some would get off their arses they might be able to help clean it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe (Liverpool) Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Perhaps, but if some would get off their arses they might be able to help clean it up. Well said Reggie.I've basically just said a similar thing in one of his other threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missytootsweet Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 im a teenager but we didnt make the world the mess it is. That may be true to a point.....but why sit around and blame adults? Newsflash, I was teenager once and adults screwed things up back then too like Watergate, Vietnam, World Hunger, Jonestown, etc. Why not get out there and help make a positive change like many adults did then and do now (as well as some teens). Try it, you might like it. Missy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slave to zep Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 saw this on facebook a while back. very true. and i agree with missy .... each generation inherits this kind ofstuff, but it seems to escalate each time ..... ( ? ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggie29 Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Checking out at Woolies, 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 apologised and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days." The assistant 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, soft drink bottles and beer bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back to the plant to be washed, sterilised 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. We walked up stairs because we didn't have a lift or escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocers and didn't climb into a 200-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 nappies because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 2000 watts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back then. 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 not a screen the size of Yorkshire. 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 post, 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 petrol 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. When we were thirsty we drank from a tap instead of drinking from a plastic bottle of water shipped from the other side of the world. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor when the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical socket 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 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest fish and chip shop. 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, grumpy old git who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartarse young person. Remember: Don't make old people angry. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe (Liverpool) Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 I hope all the snotty nosed spotty teenagers on this website read that post and take heed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fool In The Rain 60 Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Checking out at Woolies, 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 apologised and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days." The assistant 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, soft drink bottles and beer bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back to the plant to be washed, sterilised 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. We walked up stairs because we didn't have a lift or escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocers and didn't climb into a 200-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 nappies because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 2000 watts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back then. 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 not a screen the size of Yorkshire. 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 post, 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 petrol 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. When we were thirsty we drank from a tap instead of drinking from a plastic bottle of water shipped from the other side of the world. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor when the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical socket 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 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest fish and chip shop. 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, grumpy old git who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartarse young person. Remember: Don't make old people angry. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off!!! That was Brilliant, even made me think about how 'Green' things were!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missytootsweet Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 @ Reggie...have to echo Fool's comments, great post!! I thought of a couple more. We may not have been thinking of green, but in school you had to use your brain to solve algebra...no calculators allowed (I don't think many were around and they were also very expensive at first). They also taught cursive writing in school which I've learned they no longer do (probably due to the computer and typing taking precedence). No cable with all those commercial infested channels and infomercials. Plus, no gaming so sometimes we had to go out and be with real people or just curl up and read a good book. One more, no texting and possibly wrecking while driving due to a Blackberry. Those were something we ate along with other berries! Missy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planted Posted November 18, 2012 Author Share Posted November 18, 2012 Checking out at Woolies, 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 apologised and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days." The assistant 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, soft drink bottles and beer bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back to the plant to be washed, sterilised 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. We walked up stairs because we didn't have a lift or escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocers and didn't climb into a 200-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 nappies because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 2000 watts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back then. 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 not a screen the size of Yorkshire. 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 post, 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 petrol 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. When we were thirsty we drank from a tap instead of drinking from a plastic bottle of water shipped from the other side of the world. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor when the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical socket 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 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest fish and chip shop. 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, grumpy old git who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartarse young person. Remember: Don't make old people angry. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us Reggie, that was awesome! Thank you for not hijacking this thread. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slave to zep Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 while all those things in reggies post are true, we aren't blameless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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