Things that make you go AARRGGHH!!

I try to be polite, and to take the feelings of others into account whenever I can. This is a valuable lesson I learned from my parents, both of whom are unfailingly polite and considerate of others. Unfortunately, not everyone has learned the same lesson.

The latest thing to irritate me is shopping carts...in particular at the local Costco wholesale store, but in general at most shopping places.

My issue with shopping carts begins outside the store in the parking lot, where many people are too lazy to push their empty carts back to the designated drop-off spots, instead leaving them in empty parking spaces, shoved up on the landscaped dividers, or just parallel-parked along the curb. This impedes traffic flow, reduces the number of available parking spaces (especially on weekends), and causes damage when the carts roll free and bump into parked cars.

Inside the stores, aisles tend to be narrow, and even those that are wide tend to be crowded with shoppers at busy times. Many shoppers blithely leave their carts parked in the middle of the aisles (often at an angle, for maximum traffic interference) while they ponder their purchases...and then get irritated with you when you ask them to move them out of the way.

So...

If you are shopping, and particularly if the store is crowded, please think about where you are leaving your shopping cart. In the parking lot, the car your improperly-stowed cart damages may be mine...and inside, the nerves you get on may also be mine. Showing a little consideration for others is not a bad thing, especially as we approach the holiday season. Why not start with the common, ordinary shopping cart?

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo