Day 57: Shopping Carts Ethics Will Save Humanity

What we do with shopping carts after we are done with them shows a little something about our character in terms of our thoughts on others. I am trying to remain impartial and open-minded about the carts that I see sitting in the middle of parking spaces, but it is hard for me to understand that blatant act of don’t-give-a-fuckery. I can understand those, especially the elderly, that leave their carts between the front bumpers of cars or right enough in the middle that two cars can still park. That is only mild laziness that ranges to disability. But carts in the middle of a parking spot tells me that the person that put it there does not care about the future customers or the employees of the store.

One could argue that future customers are strangers, so why do we need to worry about them? Can’t they find another parking spot? I am running late after all. I have a place I want to get to thirty seconds faster. I have had a rough day, so the world should have sympathy for me. Those are the kind of justifications that I imagine the people telling themselves as they put their car in reverse and drive away, leaving it someone else’s responsibility to put away something they used. Don’t we teach that to children?

Again, it could be argued that the job of cart-gather and returner is reserved for the employees. True, that is their job. But they are not constantly out in the parking lot, in all corners and alleys, just waiting for people to unload their carts, slide them three feet to the left, and take off. They have other things to do besides getting carts. So, while they are doing those other things, two carts are just adjacent enough inside of a parking space, next to a pick-up truck driver with a lift that thinks that the world is their personal parking spot is slid two feet on the other side of the yellow line, preventing anyone else from parking there.

And because the workers cannot be in the parking lot at all times, that is why they made those amazing cart racks in several locations throughout the parking lot. Many even specifically state if large or small carts should be inserted in them, in an effort to take the decision making out of the customers' mind. They are trying their very best to make your shopping experience as convenient as possible, aside from providing a personal chariot for your Sunday shopping day. On the flip side, I understand that it may be a short walk from the car to the rack, but a typical shopper has already walked ten times that length to enter the store from the parking space, to the correct aisle(s), and back. What is another few feet? It’ll help all those Fit-Bitters get in their ten thousand.

Things need to change. The shopping carts are a giant metaphor for the general condition of this country. Too many people do not care about others. Too many are too self-centered to take an extra minute to help anyone. For those that consciously make the decision every time to put your cart back (or have your kid do it), I applaud you. The world needs more people that care enough to put back their damn cart. And if you can't put it back in the store or in a rack, at least don't put it in someone else's way. Yes, I am talking to you Wal-Mart shoppers.

It is all these little things we can do — holding doors open, getting the item off the top shelf, letting others go first, smiling at strangers — that I think will save us from this turmoil that seems to surround our world and stir our anger. Despite what many would have us think, we are not in this rat-race alone. We are in this together. Let us be kind this holiday season and beyond.

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Author’s Note #1: Is it necessary to work in an industry to be kind to those that also work in the industry? Are not all jobs stressful? Do not all people appreciate kindness?

Author’s Note #2: Thank you, Mom, for teaching me these lessons when I was young.