Leave it to an Instagram post to make you think deeply.
I saw a post today on Instagram that used the analogy of a shopping cart to figure out whether you were a good or bad member of society.
The idea behind it was that a shopping cart is a neutral object. However, when you add in shopping cart rack in a parking lot, now it seems like it’s not so clear.
When you are done shopping and take your items out to your cart, barring an immediate emergency, do you replace your cart back to where it goes? And my further question is, how far are you willing to go to return that cart? If all the stalls out in the parking lot are closed, are you willing to walk back up to the store and return the cart in the store?
At what point do you decide it’s not worth it? Maybe the stall is right next to you, so you figure there’s no harm in putting it in real quick, but when it’s 5 spots over, that’s a LOT of work to return.
The post that I saw made the point that there is no law being broken if you don’t return the cart. There’s no real harm besides making life easier on the cart guy who works for the store, but everyone knows that the cart is SUPPOSED to go back into the stall. What do you do when you are faced with the option to do something right and there is no reward if you do and no punishment if you don’t?
The post makes the argument that if you don’t put your cart away in this situation, you are no better than an animal…I don’t know that I would quite go that far, but I think it is something quite telling about human nature and the desire to do things that are good only when we are recognized for it. And perhaps you read the above and thought “I would return the cart even if it was a half mile walk back to the store. If that’s the case, kudos to you. You are better than most.
So, in summary, are you an animal, or do you put your cart back?