I've notice recently that I spend a lot of time in supermarkets. Maybe its that I just don't like storing food, but for some reason I elect to revisit my local Albertson's every night before dinner rather than buy food to last me through the week. Consequently, all this time I've spent shopping has taught me a very interesting lesson. People are lazy jerks.
Now I'm no stranger to laziness (one look at my waistline would tell you that), but at some point enough has got to be enough. I don't know why it bothers me so much, but the way the average person deals with their shopping cart is absolutely atrocious. I just can't believe the laziness of some people. Maybe, if you were running late for work, you had parked in the furthest parking spot from the store, and you'd have to run the cart all the way back to put it away, then I might understand your refusal to spend 'all that energy' to return the cart to its appropriate place. However, that is never the case. Even if you were running late, every store has several designated slots to return your cart to. At the most you'd have to walk about 15 yards.
During one of my last visits, I was dumfounded by one mans laziness. He was occupying a spot on the right hand side of the parking aisle and in the corresponding spot on the left side of the aisle was the shopping cart return space. Rather than turning his cart towards it and giving it one good push, which would have sent it rolling directly into the return space without requiring him to walk at all, he just hopped in his car and drove away.
Now his actions alone are enough to annoy me, but the real kicker is where he left the cart. He left it completely in the middle of the parking spot next to him. This means that until someone else decides to move the cart, that spot is effectively no longer in service. If I had telekinesis, which would be awesome, I would have used it in that moment to throw the cart against the side of his car to teach him a lesson.
Look people, if you're going to be lazy then fine. Just don't be a jerk and allow that laziness to effect others. If you really can't muster up the energy to push the cart to where it needs to be , then at least make sure it's off to the side and out of the way so its not blocking other parking spaces. It would also be nice if you'd ground the cart in a planter, crack, or on a curb so that one swift gust of wind doesn't send it hurling into another car after you pull away.
posted by Christopher Schnese