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Oct 19, 2023

The Shopping Cart Theory

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By [email protected] | on July 14, 2022

If you’re on top of the Interweb universe like me, you probably already know The Shopping Cart Theory is the latest thing to mindlessly discuss. I’ve been interested in shopping carts for years—buggies to Southerners—but didn't know the things were a barometer to a person's possible conduct.

The Shopping Cart Theory states whether a person places their cart back into the rack rather than leaving it wherever they please determines the goodness of that person. Not sure I’m buying what they’re selling, but that's what the theory claims.

Sylvan Goldman invented carts in 1937 to get groceries from the store to the vehicle to help the customers save energy and also surreptitiously encourage them to buy more. Carts seem like a great service. All the customer needs to do is place the cart in the handy rack near their parking spot when finished.

The Theory claims that since there is no punishment for leaving the cart next to one's auto, the only pressure is societal norm. People who are innately "good" will return the cart to its resting place, and those who aren't won't.

My first discovery of anything involving buggies was noticing when anyone left his or her cart in an unacceptable place someone else would soon leave a second cart next to it. A subtle permission slip since the second guy only copied another person's dubious action.

For those folks, like this one, who were raised by a mother who would immediately retort, "If Tommy jumped off a cliff, would you?" that implied permission is null and void. But I find this part of the Shopping Cart Theory to be more indicative of human behavior than the simple good vs. bad analogy.

Very little about human behavior is simple. We are influenced by all kinds of conflicting signals, most of which we haven't even discovered yet. Our brain rewards us for actions that promote our survival and punish us for things that threaten it. We have all types of societal norms based on myths from centuries ago and more modern theories based on unreliable internet postings.

Most people refusing to return carts to racks may simply be lazy. They then complicate things by justifying their choice with excuses. I didn't see a cart caddie nearby. I was too tired to return it. I was saving someone's job. Food is too expensive for me to do their work. When you want to justify something questionable any excuse will do.

I think many of us want determining the goodness of people to be simple. We like to think that societal norms and upbringing can determine the internal quality of a person. Many religions claim to be the originator of morality, yet there were people coexisting peacefully with each other for hundreds of thousands of years before the first religion was ever established.

I consider myself a good judge of character, yet I’ve been surprised many times by people doing the opposite of what I thought they might do. The truth is we have no idea how to determine a person's goodness.

Maybe it's time to stop judging people. You know, like the Good Book says.

The Shopping Cart Theory appeared online a few years ago. The poster was anonymous and there is no indication of who authored TSCT.

Credible theories are based on a body of facts that are supported by citations to the work of competent researchers. TSCT does not support any of the facts it relies on to form a theory.

The author falsely claims "we all recognize" that returning a cart is the correct, appropriate thing to do. If that were true it would mean that every shopper who abandons a cart believes it is wrong but does it anyway.

The truth is many people do not believe there is a single "appropriate thing to do" with a cart. In fact there are several good arguments for leaving carts scattered around parking lots. Therefore there is no reason to assume that a person who abandons his cart was refusing to do "the right thing" or that his action is any indication of his character.

TSCT is a hoax. It is so ludicrous I suspect it was written to show how little people care about the accuracy of information that appears to support their opinion. People who have a pet peeve about abandoned carts now cite TSCT as if it is irrefutable proof that people who fail to return their carts are bad members of society.

TSCT is the ultimate litmus test for whether a person has common sense.

Miss Susan, you clearly have never seen the cart narcs. There is not one good person who refused to take their cart where it belongs. Do some research before posting🙏🏻

This article is not about a vigilante YouTuber, it is about the hoax known as The Shopping Cart Theory.Mr. Cox states, "The truth is we have no idea how to determine a person's goodness."

Again, anyone with common sense knows that human beings are rarely all good or all bad. The most evil people among us often work hard to convince everyone else that they are model citizens. Because people are so quick to judge, this can be accomplished simply by making sure people see them doing good deeds here and there.

Many of the best people among us go unnoticed because they are humble. They know who they are and how much good they do. If they think it is acceptable to abandon a cart they may do so.

The next time you see someone happily returning his cart, remember that he may be a serial killer. When you see someone abandon a cart, remember she may be a person that volunteers much of her time to helping others. Get it out of your head that you have any chance of fairly judging another person because you can only know what they want you to know about them.

Susan you sound like the type of person who does not return their shopping cart.

Is your comment trying to justify your actions by implying that TSCT is a hoax? Are you a person capable of doing the right thing out of the goodness of your heart?

Do you return tour shopping cart Susan? It does not sound like you do.

i agrée with shopping cart man, susan you sound like the type of person that justifies also just throwing the cart into the rack, and not lining it up,do you line up your cart in the rack susan? it doesn't seem like you do

A few things- I agree slightly with the shopping cart theory, but what caught my eye is your comment on the simplicity of determining someone's moral goodness. The issue, as you say, is that there is no hard moral standard besides the law. I’m not going to press my moral standard, but I do believe that to claim that there is no hard right or wrong, so people can't be right or wrong sets up society for a very hard time. We might say, oh no they wouldn't do that, it's wrong. But the thing that ideas like this teach them is that it's only wrong if you’re cart. Omnipotent creators/judges are extremely useful for enforcing a certain moral code, and that is why all religions claim their moral code to be true. I also think it is laughable that you are claiming that people got along before religion. People were probably worshiping the sun while they banged their neighbors wife and ate his sheep, because they stubbed their toe on his rock.

Susan definitely does not return her cart because shes too entitled. So much so, like a good portion of our country that doesn't care if anyones looking. They dare anyone to say something and have no respect for anyone or anything. Rules dont apply to them and why should they? Nobody's held accountable anymore. We’re all "victims" with "valid" reasons for not doing the right thing these days, whether its things like taking an 12 extra seconds to push your cart back in the rack or murdering your friend on video in Mexico. Our leaders enabled this, due to "disparities" or simple being afraid to speak up against the louder voices in the room. And everyone has a victim mentality nowadays. So sure. Keep making up excuses why you didn't push your cart back. You’re just trash and the rest of us know it. And I can 100% guarantee if I went home with you, Id see it plain as day there too.

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