Manners Monday: Free-Range Shopping Carts 3 comments


 

April 10, 2017, posted by Gina – This week’s post is not exactly about manners but rather about courteous behavior. You’ve seen it. Maybe you’ve done it. Or maybe you took care of it.

I am sure we have all been on the wrong side of a shopping cart from time to time. You know, you see a great parking spot near the front door of the store and as you start to pull in you have to suddenly hit the brakes. That’s right, someone left a shopping cart smack dab in the middle of the parking space. As welcome as an ant at a picnic.

As you circle around, trying to find a space, you realize the cart that was left in the great parking spot is only two parking spaces away from the cart corral. You begin to wonder why a person would just abandon the cart in the middle of a perfectly good spot when it would have taken two seconds to put it in its proper place.

I once overheard a conversation between two people in a grocery store parking lot. It seems they felt it was the duty of the store employees to take care of wherever the carts land and since they were customers they should be able to leave their cart wherever they wanted.

It is true that there are employees that can handle wayward carts, but a little bit of effort and kindness could go a long way. Is it really that hard to put the cart in its proper spot? If someone returned their cart to the proper spot could it save someone else’s car from getting hit? Or maybe just allow someone to park in a space? Or what if they just returned it to be kind? We’ve all seen store employees on a 95-degree day pushing what looks like 50 carts back into the store. It would make life a lot easier for them if carts were corralled and they didn’t have to walk all over to gather carts from here and there.

It only takes a few seconds to return the cart. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone who saw a cart in a parking spot as they made their way into the store, just grabbed that one? After all, they need a cart and another person needs a parking space. We’re not the only ones who are irked by this rather selfish behavior. Check out this funny article from Matt Walsh, Attention Shopping Cart Ditchers: Look What You’ve Doneto read his thoughts about shopping cart etiquette. We’re right there with him!

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3 thoughts on “Manners Monday: Free-Range Shopping Carts

  • Mimi Speyerer

    OMG, Gina! This is one of my biggest pet-peeves! I worked at a Delchamps grocery store in high school. I hated having to go outside in the heat for “buggy duty”. When I see someone leave a cart in a parking space, my first thought is how LAZY can you be and how inconsiderate?

    Another way to perform an act of kindness: If I am walking past someone who has emptied their cart at their car, I offer to take their buggy from them. I need one anyway–why not help that person out by taking their cart.

    I think this world needs random acts of kindness!