Shopping Carts: a Cultural Epistle
The Theory
There’s a belief that it’s possible to judge the character of a person or a society by their wiliness to return a shopping cart to its corral or home. People have written about this theory, it’s even been covered in the New York Times. There is also a lengthy and heated debate on Reddit. If you’ll indulge me for a few, I’ll the record straight.
Understanding this measure of societal good is a subject of anthropologist Krystal D’Costa’s work. This may surprise you, but there’s even a highly successful YouTube channel called Cart Narcs that chronicles the interactions between the YouTuber and various cart offenders.
The debate boils down to the virtuous cart returners vs the vile cart abandoners. Let’s set aside people who take carts off store property…that’s a separate topic.
On the surface it makes sense, when a customer finishes with the cart, it’s nice to return it to its home. This act reduces the likelihood of a wild cart running amok or getting in the way. It feels good. Can you picture it, you’ve loaded your car, pushed the button to lower your tailgate, and led the cart towards the corral with a smile on your face-Feels nice right?
In defense of those who leave carts in the parking lot here is a quote courtesy of Christine Hauser’s article in the NY Times -
