I am so gotdam sick of selfish people! The picture is of the Costco parking space I was headed for yesterday -- unavailable because some selfish asshole left his shopping cart sitting right in the middle of it! And you wouldn’t have to walk far to find the cart corral he could have used. Just too far for this jerk.
As is so often the case, Europe is way ahead of us on this issue. There you deposit a Euro to use a shopping cart; when you’re done, you return the cart and get a Euro back. Most everyone returns his cart. A Euro matters.
Here we might have to make it a twenty-dollar bill. Anything less and your typical fat, lazy American might not walk the extra fifty feet to return a cart.
Or maybe not. The folks at the supermarket chain Aldi -- admittedly, a European concern -- have made it work for only a quarter. Here's what they have to say; pay them a visit if there's one in your area:
"Part of the ALDI experience is enjoying all of the money-saving rituals that come with smarter shopping. ALDI regulars have come to find our easy-to-use shopping cart deposit system downright endearing, figuring that paying too much is a much greater inconvenience. With this system, we don’t have to assign an employee to round up carts in the parking lot, we don’t lose expensive carts, and you don’t have to worry about dings in your car doors from runaway carts.
You'll find ALDI shopping carts hooked together right outside the door. As you approach the store, just insert a quarter to release a cart. When you’re finished shopping, reconnect the chain and get your quarter back. This expense-saving tradition (no rolling carts to chase and no damaged cars!) has become a legendary part of the ALDI culture."
Probably far too sensible to catch on with most American chains.
Over the last several years, I have made it a practice to return my cart to inside the store or back to the queue at Costco. Sadly, people who would leave their cart without a second thought are also ones who will castigate anyone else who does it. (present company excluded)
ReplyDeletePeople don't see themselves as a part of a greater entity to which there are responsibilities. These same people don't see how others doing okay has a benefit for the overall society and hence for them.
I believe in enlightened self-interest. I seem to be one of the few left. At the same time, schools are allowed to do less and less toward pointing out the interdependencies of all of us. Spiraling toward compost.