Competition to save

On Saturday afternoon, the sun was mild. Mrs. Hoa, a retired official, carefully turned off the ceiling fan in the living room and slowly said:

- I read in the newspaper these past few days that electricity prices have increased. It's time to talk about saving again, sir.

When his wife mentioned the electricity price increase, Mr. Hoan said in dismay:

- If the electricity price increases again, my pension and yours will decrease a little.

After saying that, the two grandparents carried their grandchild to the park near their house to cool off instead of closing the room door and turning on the air conditioner, which was both wasteful of electricity and stuffy.

Arriving at the park, Mrs. Hoa met Ms. Ngan, an elementary school teacher, who had just taken her child out to cool off. Ms. Ngan wiped her child's sweat and complained to Mrs. Hoa:

- It's already so hot at the beginning of summer. And the electricity price has increased. My family has started to save electricity. But honestly, my children need electricity for everything. If you turn this off, you need to turn that on, it's very difficult...

Little Nam, Ngan's son, sitting next to her, excitedly chimed in:

- My mother made me save electricity so I can't watch TV much anymore.

Mrs. Hoa laughed and said:

- As a good child of Uncle Ho, it is right to be frugal. Nowadays, air conditioners are cool and lights are bright, but we must know how to use them at the right time and place, not to waste them.

Ms. Ngan listened to Ms. Hoa, thought for a moment and then said:

- I remember reading a book and seeing Uncle Ho folding paper to write letters to save money. When writing, Uncle Ho carefully corrected every spelling mistake so as not to have to rewrite and waste paper and ink. Then there was the story about Uncle Ho reminding cadres and soldiers to save money. Now teaching children to save money is not easy, right? I just reminded them to close the door when going in and out of the air-conditioned room, but the next day they closed it again, and when they went out, the door was wide open while the air conditioner was still on. I plan to discuss with my family to install a solar power system, both to save electricity and to support the green living movement.

Mrs. Hoa nodded:

- But saving does not mean living frugally but using it appropriately. When I used to work at an agency, every time a competition for saving was launched, the whole agency would voluntarily do it. Not only saving electricity but also saving water, printing paper... Back then, my office printed on both sides, but whenever there was any extra white paper, I would cut it up and bind it into scrap paper or save it for notebooks. Now, maybe we need to rekindle that spirit in every family.

Little Nam gently pulled his mother's sleeve and said with a smile:

- Mom, from tomorrow, let's compete to see who is thrifty. Anyone who does something wrong will be punished by having to clean the house for a week.

Ms. Ngan smiled and patted her child's head:

- Okay, let's all compete to save money, baby.

LOAN NGUYEN

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/thi-dua-tiet-kiem-411557.html