Heidy-Ho, Blogging Buddies.
Yep. The title tells you. It's another rant. If you're not in the mood, please just move on right now.
So... there are a couple of things I try to be aware of and try to do just as a courtesy to the general public. I am finding there are very few folks who do the same here.
When I am shopping in the local Sam Walton Big Box store, I am aware that many of the aisles are quite narrow. At the very BEST, two carts can pass each other with millimeters to spare. There are times when I need to stop and scan the shelves for items that I typically do not buy. This is generally when I am shopping for my aunt's items. When I must stop, I pay close attention to what else is happening in the aisle in which I am shopping. I NEVER stop my cart directly opposite someone else's stopped cart. Even as I scan shelves, I pay attention to my cart and am quick to move it should someone come along and stop near it, blocking potential traffic. When I occasionally run into someone I know while shopping, I drag my cart as far as possible to one side in line with my acquaintance's. This way, we have left room for others to pass while we visit briefly.
Do you think my shopping process is the norm here? If so, you would be sadly mistaken. I have encountered carts, parked side-by-side, with the "drivers" scanning the products on the shelves without a care that they have completely log jammed the entire aisle. I have been drawn to a complete halt as folks stand next to each other with their respective carts forward of them engaged in extended conversations about family, friends, football... nothing urgent. I will note that in both of these scenarios, I have stood in line-of-sight of the offending cart-pushers who most frequently simply continue with whatever they are doing without even a slight movement toward adjusting their carts to allow my egress. In fairness, there have been a few times (maybe 10%) where the cart-operator has actually moved the cart and mumbled what might have been an apology for blocking my way. I won't even discuss the shoppers who shop together, moving side-by-side down each aisle while chatting, oblivious to the havoc they are creating for other shoppers.
Once I have managed to purchase, pay, and make my way to the parking lot, I unload my bags into my vehicle, then push the cart to the nearest "cart corral" where it can hang out with its empty buddies until the "cart-herder" arrives to take them all back up to the store.
Again, are you thinking others do this? If so, you are once again thinking of the minority. More often than not, I find empty carts blocking parking spaces when I arrive and I watch fully able-bodied, younger-than-I-am individuals leave their emptied carts to "free range" in the parking lot, rolling at will into vehicles or rolling into a parking space in such a manner that one cannot park a vehicle there (although perhaps a Smart car could make it?). Yeppir. The really killer thing here is that frequently these "free range" carts are blocking parking within 2 to 3 spaces of the "cart corral!" HOW LAZY DO YOU HAVE TO BE to not walk five steps with your cart to put it in its proper place?!?!? Unbelievable!!
Alright. I'm done. I only ask that you please be aware of what is happening around you wherever you are and whatever you are doing. It's the right thing to do.
Until next post...
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