this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2023
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Personally I think shopping carts are the penultimate litmus test. Returning a shopping cart requires effort, albeit a miniscule amount of effort. The ultimate litmus test is litering. It requires exactly zero effort to not throw your trash on the ground or out your car window. To me, littering practically screams, "I don't give a shit about anyone but myself. I have the self control of a toddler at bed time and I want everyone to know it which is why I throw my shit on the ground like a total fucktard."
I'm not really a confrontational person but I have rolled down my window and yelled at people for throwing their cigarette butts on the ground. You would think some people were raised in a goddamn barn.
I may feel a little strongly about this issue.
But there is a penalty for littering. Some people might refrain from littering not because it's the right thing to do, but because they don't want a fine.
The lack of repercussions for being a scumbag and abandoning your cart is what makes it a good test.
If you're offended by a cigarette butt on the ground, holy fuck, you should have been around in the 70s. We have come so far and so fast.
When I was a kid, chunking your fast-food trash, any trash, out the window was perfectly normal. The sides of highways were covered in trash.
Further to go, of course, but I've seen solid progress.
I live in Sweden; rarely do I ever see a shopping cart just sitting in the parking lot. Can't remember a time in the last decade.
I figure it’s mostly an American thing we’re too European to understand.
You think so? Are Americans really more lazy/inconsiderate people? Some other reason why this might be more common there?
American here. The answer is emphatically "yes".
I don't think you've ever left the country then
You need to travel more then
Well that's disheartening. Why do you think that is?
American Exceptionalism/Individualism
I dont think so. It’s just that I’ve been in several EU countries, and Ive never encountered this issue here.
I think the real reason might be that majority if not all supermarkets require coins to unlock the shopping cart.
Sorry, I've become confused about what you mean by "here" or "there", and where you are based.
You mean coins are required in America? Because not in Sweden. They used to be, like 20-15 years ago. But they removed that. Not sure if there was a law that came into effect or something but... not anymore with the coins. Carts are free to take into the store without coins. Still, everyone returns them.
I still do it without coins because that's what I've done in my entire life. Like, not returning the cart never even entered my mind as a possibility (it's still not one).
I've seen some un returned carts sporadically, but I've always assumed that there was some emergency.
On the Internet however? I've seen people argue that not returning carts is good for the economy because there's people whose job is to return those, and if we did return the carts they would lose their job. Which is... Stupid to say the least.
Right, let's all become murderers so we can create homicide detective jobs... Makes perfect sense. 🙃🙄 Very silly argument indeed.
Sometimes I just feel like people like to argue for the sake of arguing. Or that they don't fully understand what they are saying.
Mostly Americans who don't travel say this because they haven't experienced lazy people in other countries. I've seen plenty of dumping of trash, destruction of natural places, etc in other countries.
Probably more in the continental Europe, right? Or further east? I feel like Scandinavian people are quite clean and take responsibility for trash. We have a good community system as well I think. Garbage is collected and disposed.
I dunno. Sometimes it bothers me how people don't sort their trash correctly in the correct bins, like how hard is that? But at least they bring it there, right? 🤷♂️
HA! The Norwegians have terrible air quality because their mountains clog smoke in valleys. I noticed this when looking up the UKs and spotted my English city had better air quality than lots of Norway. Swedish hobgoblin motherfuckers.
I wouldn't associate air quality with the people being responsible with their trash or returning their shopping carts lol. Maybe I should? 😆
We have absolutely enormous parking lots, and yeah, Americans are lazy and have an abundance of food. Maybe not more inconsiderate, but Hanlon's Razor comes into play here. If you don't believe me, just go to any Golden Corral. There absolutely will be multiple families in there where every single person weighs over 250 pounds, even the 8 year old kid.
I remember a girl in highschool that was an exchange student from Botswana(?) was a bit upset that she was too fat to go home after living here for a school year. She'd gained like maybe 5 pounds. As far as all us Americans were concerned she finally didn't look anorexic.
My brothers and I would run around the parking lots gathering up all the carts rather than go into the store. This was especially fun at Aldi's cause we got a quarter for each cart, and could get some candy.
No no, I already believe that. I think that's one of the most soothing and comforting adages ever. I suppose it's just not in many Americans' culture to think in terms of "what good can I be to society during my lifetime/today/in this situation," rather than "how can I help myself/make the smallest burden for myself, right now". I dunno.
I remember when I came to America for a few months, twice. I would gain a lot of weight both times. I thought it was quite frustrating. But cheap food really is bad for you.
That's a cute story about your brothers. ☺️
Is there a version of this that includes something about Aldi and other pay to return shops?
The existence of Aldi carts is proof that there are a lot of people out there with no ability to self govern
But for a potential loss of $0.25 they can suddenly self govern.
It's also about the inconvenience of having to obtain another quarter.
Maybe we can use this to our advantage.
Every voter gets 0.25$, every public traffic ride nets you 0.25$, every CEO with a company that is net zero also gets 0.25$.
Also plays into the rules only apply if you’re rich, just pay for the convenience.
https://youtu.be/8DYje57V_BY?si=wkUDwV5pxTa_q8V6
Aldi's deal is more about getting people to return carts all the way to the front entrance so that they don't have to pay employees to retrieve them from the corrals.
Of course, with their parking lots being small to begin with, I'm not so sure it'd make much of a difference (see also: Lidl, with the same size parking lot but no 25¢ locking carts).
I like how this is a funny joke, but also true.
What you get when no one is in charge. There are always people who will abuse a common trust. People will litter within feet of a trashcan or leave a cart a few spaces from a cart corral.
It might be because I've been slamming IPAs this afternoon but that's the best example of "it's funny because it's true" I've seen in a while.