I know not all Walmarts are created equal. Some are newer, brighter, and equipped with row after row of self-checkout lanes. Mine is older, dingier, and showing it’s age.
I learned the hard way to take a cart in with me from the parking lot. More often than not, that’s where they all are. Few if any make their way back into the store.
I’ve started wheeling two carts in with me. As I walk through the automatically-opening doors, I always encounter someone standing there, wondering what to do, since there aren’t any shopping carts. I know, the easy answer is, “Go back out and get one.” But for some reason, they don’t. They stand there with a puzzled look on their face. They look for an employee to go and bring in some carts. (Good luck with that.) Or, they are there when I’m walking in. With an extra cart in front of me, I offer, “Would you like a cart?”
I’m a hero. At least for five seconds. Then they are on their way. The other day, when I brought in an extra cart, a woman commented, “You’ve got a job if you want it!”
No one should be surprised. If you have to select all your own groceries, scan them, bag them, and pay at self-service stations, of course you should have to wheel in your own shopping cart. If you don’t want to do all of that, pick out your groceries online, let someone else wander the aisles to select them for you and bring them out to your car a few hours later.
As kids, we loved pushing the cart, picking out groceries, unloading the cart, and bagging the food. Who didn’t sneak something extra into the cart when mom wasn’t looking? Adulting means you either do everything yourself or let someone else do it all for you.
Anyway, that’s now my good deed for the day. I do not relish a trip to Walmart. But it helps us stick to our budget. And it makes me feel a little less selfish in a self-centered world.
Waite for it... 