In an article “Adding It Up: Amazon Ship vs. Costco Shop”, written by Ron Lieber, The New York Times, he writes “And then there are the hazards of the parking lots. At my Costco in Brooklyn this week, I dutifully parked at least one spot from other cars to avoid door dings and such. But all of the shopping cart bays in the lot were full, so when I came back out, the windswept lot was full of errant carts blowing this way and that. Sure enough, one of them was snuggled up to my bumper, where it had left a fresh inch-long gash.”
Don’t we all hate those freewheeling shopping carts? On a windy day, they are all over the place, wrecking cars and persons. In the the same article quoted above (link below), “A local manager added that an unusual number of people had called in sick the day of the free-floating carts.”
OK, that is okay if there was an unusual number of employees who called in sick that could control the carts; that does not mean that we as consumers are not responsible to put the carts back in the corrals provided by the stores themselves.
Have we become so lazy that we cannot travel a few feet to properly deposit the shopping carts in the corrals? A responsible adult with courtesy of other people’s persons and vehicles leaves with comfort knowing that people and vehicles have been saved for another day and probably lost a few decimals of pounds for the effort.
“Well, the cart collectors get paid for this.” or “Yeah, consider how much shopping I have done and need to unload/load into my car.” You wonder why children do not have understanding of courtesy and responsibility? That was a job I did a long time ago. It is not a easy job collecting carts. At that time, I did not have those fancy machines that you could sack up behind and move into those cart stalls in the store. I used my strength, rope and hooks to make sure those infuriating carts stayed in place. Yes, I chased those carts on those free wind days.
Those free-wheeling carts is because half (or less) of the consumers do not put the carts in the corrals. It is not hard to do. Put a foot forward with you hands on the cart handle and push, push and push on to the lovely corrals. What would be an added bonus? If you can stack your cart with the others, NEATLY.
Your consideration for persons and vehicles are much appreciated. I know I park next to or near the corrals to make my shopping experience easier.
Oh and by the way, those who are looking for the closest spot to the store, please for whomever and whatever’s sake, do not push the corrals out of the way, it is damaging to your vehicle and causes the store to increase its prices to fix or replace a corral.
Courtesy and responsibility goes a long way.
Being Human, Being Deaf & Everything in Between 