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[–] 77 points 2 years ago (6 children)

This is unironically how i judge if someone is a decent person. It costs you nothing, and requires minimum effort, and yet most people I meet just can't be bothered. I don't even work in retail, nor have I ever, but it just annoys the hell outta me that people are that inconsiderate. It's not like Sam Walton himself is asking you to put the cart away for him. When you don't do it some minimum wage employee has to chase them down. You're not better than them. You're capable of doing the minimal task asked of you.

As previously stated, I've met way to many people like this. Pox on the Earth. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

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  • [–] 72 points 2 years ago* (12 children)

    Reminds me of shopping cart theory.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago (1 child)
  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    No one will kill you, but I might call you a cunt-muffin to your face. And you can't even complain to anyone about it because when you tack muffin on the end it sounds sort of cute and you sound like even more of a cunt-muffin for complaining. Ya cunt-muffin.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    I don't think anyone will confront you about such things where I live or where anon lives. So there isn't even that incentive. Someone might look at you disapprovingly, but more likely they're just condemning you in private without showing it.

    One incentive used to be to get your money back, but nowadays many are unlocked.

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I worked in retail as a college summer job and someone let their cart loose and it cracked a light on my car. The security tapes confirmed it. I was parked way off to the side with the other employees and the cart gained some momentum on its way.

    Another similar test is when someone changes their mind on buying something if they return it to its original spot or just dump it on a random shelf. This is another thing that I really hated dealing with in retail.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago

    Another similar test is when someone changes their mind on buying something if they return it to its original spot or just dump it on a random shelf.

    Bonus points on when it's something from the frozen food aisle they just stash randomly on some shelf to melt and spoil!

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    [–] 42 points 2 years ago (1 child)
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    [–] 23 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I argue that empathy, and the sympathy and compassion that flow from it, are the only things a person can be rightly judged by. It matters not one's wealth, race, skill, ambition, charm, etc. Those are nice to have and can make life easier, but they don't make a person better or worse. It only matters that they care about others, and anyone that cares about others and acts like it is a great person even if mistakes have been made.

    If you think you're a loser because you don't have a girl/boyfriend and live with your parents or something but you care about others, you are a far greater person than Elon Musk, Bill Gates, or anyone like that to be certain.

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  • [–] 22 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    They say that it's the ultimate test of selflessness, because it doesn't benefit you and there's no recognition for it.

    But does it cancel out the selflessness if I'm now thinking that every time I return a cart? "If someone sees me, they'll know how selfless I am..."

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  • [–] 13 points 2 years ago (10 children)

    That's why shopping carts in Germany are coin operated.

    You only get your coin back, if you return the cart.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I made a bypass tool so I can know that when I return them it's due to moral superiority and not base greed.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago

    It's a paradox for sure. I have this exact thought everytime I do something I think of as morally good. Then I'm bashing myself for thinking that way, and then I wonder if I need to become a monk or something to completely rid myself of that initial thought. Then I forget about it until it happens again.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I had a teacher in highschool that presented the philosophical argument that no one ever does anything that is truly selfless. The argument was exactly what you mentioned, that if someone is doing something that appears selfless, they're actually doing it in hopes that someone notices and thinks more highly of them.

    This would have been an interesting rebuttal to the argument. If you return a shopping cart in an empty parking lot, does that make you selfless? Kind of like a modern version of a tree falling in a forest...

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago

    I'm not doing it for the goodness of my heart or being selfless. I enjoy following the rules.I do it for me, not for the person using the cart next or the store employees. You can argue I'm kind of an asshole for it, actually.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    i don't think true selflessness exists, but i also think that is completely and utterly irrelevant.

    Everything is fundamentally fueled by selfishness, but it seems to be a fundamental truth of the universe that cooperation is optimal for an individual if they can achieve it.

    for example cooperation is the thing that allows us and animals like ants to be so hilariously more successful than other species, and on an ecosystem level everyone is cooperating since their chemical structures are compatible. If something were to evolve to use mirrored sugar (which is incompatible with the version of sugar molecules we use) then they'd have nothing but themselves to eat and thus promptly starve.

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    [–] 20 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I worked at grocery stores for 7 years in my late teens and early 20s. People who don't use cart corrals deserve nothing.

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  • [–] 15 points 2 years ago (6 children)

    So do I if I want my money back

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    [–] 13 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Grocery store owner: "Looks like customer altruism is ramping up again, time to lay off some more employees!"

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago (2 children)
  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I bring loose carts into the store on my way in, usually don't use a cart since I bring bags

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Me too. I find it really odd seeing people walk past a loose cart to go inside and wrestle one loose from the corral.

    Plus, I'll take the cart that's baking in the heat and UV every time. Yet another way the pandemic changed me permanently.

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    [–] 9 points 2 years ago
    [–] 9 points 2 years ago

    It wasn't until I moved and had a Wegmans that I pretty much never see a cart outside of their sheds. The couple times I have seen it was at the "entitled rich people" location. Wegmans has enough cart returns around that you have absolutely no excuse. They even put the reserved spots for pregnant and those with children right next to the returns so it is easier for them.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    You need to check out the cart narcs on YouTube!! They record themselves calling people out on not returning their carts, and the petty reactions from the lazy bones. They even have hood magnets for the unrepentant!! https://youtube.com/@CartNarcs

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (1 child)
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    [–] 5 points 2 years ago

    Better than crack.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I still feel bad about the one time I didn't return a shopping cart.

    A creepy guy was hitting on me and wouldn't take no for an answer, didn't feel safe to go anywhere but in my car and the fuck out of there.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago

    Ah the good ol shopping cart litmus test

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    Image Transcription: Twitter


    Han Solo Cup @paminski

    I may not be perfect or very good or adequate, but I return shopping carts to their appropriate location.

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