Why Many People Agree That the ‘Shopping Cart Test’ Is the Way to Determine If Someone is a Good Person
When we’re done shopping, and we pay for our purchases, we push the cart to our car and load our shopping bags inside. What comes next? Do you find the closest shopping cart return area and return our shopping cart there, or do you simply abandon it in the parking lot assuming an employee will rescue it later?
A Twitter user named Jared shared a picture that describes the “The Shopping Cart Theory.” The idea is that a shopping cart is the ultimate test of whether or not someone is a good person. If you return the cart, you’re a good person. If you don’t, you are not a good person.
The reason a shopping cart is a great test is because it is not a law that you have to return the cart, but we all know that is the appropriate thing to do. Some Twitter users agree with Jared that it really is a great way to know if someone is a good person or not.
People who place shopping carts in parking spots are unfit for society, and should be dealt with accordingly
— Mike Montero (@MikeMontero11) May 15, 2020
I return the cart because I feel like it is good karma. If I return the cart then it isn’t going to run loose and dent someone’s car–and I am hoping that I will get back what I give.
— President Elect Annieone3 (@annieone3) May 17, 2020
While Jared may believe that a shopping cart is a clear way to know whether or not someone is a good person, some Twitter users argue that it’s not so black and white. For example, someone who is disabled or who has small children with him or her might find it very difficult to return the cart. Also, some people would be out of a job if everyone returned their carts.
Not necessarily. I know someone whose job is to round up shopping trolleys & line them up for customers to use. If all customers returned their trolleys, he would become unemployed. If he was re-assigned to other tasks, another worker would get made redundant (on a LIFO basis).
— patricia a mooney (inc.#BizarreTweetOfTheDay🦇🦇) (@hacktome) May 17, 2020
No. Because there is limited logic when positioning locations for return. If there were as many locations as say Costco or Walmart then yes. Local stores have to few corrals.
— Steven P Hammond (@SPHFLA) May 18, 2020
When my knee makes every step excutiating I don’t give a Ray’s ass about returning the cart, and I’ve seen similarly compromised people grateful to find my cart nearby.
— Cecilia (@Cecilia27931068) May 19, 2020
That’s stupid. The person who wrote that never wrangled three kids through a checkout line. It has nothing to do with goodness. The only benefit it has to society is it reduces the pay a store owner need give their employees who are perfectly capable of gathering up the carts.
— Connie Delaney (@connie_delaney) May 28, 2020
Then there are those Twitter users who seem to negate the idea of it being difficult to return a shopping cart. They simply park right next to the cart return. Side note: We have discovered that this is extremely helpful when you’re shopping with little kids.
That’s why I park next to the cart returns so I don’t have take it back up to the store…. also if it’s a down pour rain little chance of returning the cart
— HoneyBadger_498 (@bas9295) May 17, 2020
Do you always return the shopping cart? Do you think whether or not someone returns a shopping cart really is an accurate way to know if someone is a good or bad person? Do you think there are exceptions?
