Oh how times change

This was forwarded to me recently and as most owners and operators of B & B’s are probably in this age group I thought that it would be worth adding here.

Checking out at the grocery store recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. I apologized and explained, …”We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlier days.” The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.”

She was right about one thing — our generation didn’t have the green thing in “Our” day.

So what did we have back then…? After some reflection and soul-searching on “Our” day here’s what I remembered we did have….
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 repeatedly. 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 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 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 tram or a bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mothers 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 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza 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 post this on your Facebook profile so another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smarty-pants young person can add to this.

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You do have an obligation

To look after the needs of your guests – regardless of their race or beliefs. All guests deserve to be treated equally and as a host you should do your best to meet their requirements.

In this time of rising tension between the West and Middle East, it is probably a good idea to learn what is required of you, should you have Muslim guests stay.

Diet

It is important to be aware of the special dietary needs of Muslim guests – any meats served should be halal, which means “lawful”. Pork and pork products are “haram”, which means forbidden, and other haram foods are:

• animals that were dead prior to slaughtering
• animals not slaughtered properly or not slaughtered in the name of Allah
• blood and blood by products
• alcohol
• carnivorous animals
• birds of prey
• land animals without external ears

Sensitivity in these matters is very important.

Prayer

Prayer timings can be accessed through several websites – they change through the year, but this is a good reliable website.  Why not print the timings for the month and have it available in the guest room?

Provide a list of Mosques in or near your neighbourhood for those guests who may wish to pray there.

General Info

If at all possible, ensure that the bed positions do not have the foot of the bed pointing towards Mecca.

Have a list of halal food reasaurants in you local guide.

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