Shopping Carts

Most of the chapters of Write Like This are organized by purpose.  In the Express and Reflect chapter, one idea I tried is childhood games.

Today I’m trying “Things I find disturbing…”  from the Inquire and Explore chapter.  The idea is to write a list and then choose something from the list to write long about – Why do you find that thing disturbing.

Another option he suggests is for students to research using the newspaper and find articles that are disturbing to them, research, and then write about that.  However, based on the horrible things I am sure to find in the news this week, I am going to go a little less research-based and more light-hearted…shopping carts.  Here is my flash draft…

Why do I find people leaving shopping carts in the parking lot, not in the cart corral, so annoying?

I have very early memories of sitting in the car hoping my mother would not get back out of the car to yell at the person leaving the shopping cart in the parking lot.  I have other memories of my mother reprimanding people for leaving the shopping cart in the parking lot. 

Oh, and there is that time that my aunt, my mother’s twin, got out of the car. My mom, my sisters, cousins, and I sat watching her chew out some unsuspecting shopper.  Awkward!

I am not the type of person to give a random stranger a piece of my mind.  When I see a shopping cart sitting alone in the middle of the parking lot, I push it to a corral or push it inside.  My son is used to it at this point.  If the person that left it there is still near, a dirty look is all I share. 

As a new mom, getting the groceries and the kid in the car wasn’t simple.  However, I was never willing to leave the cart, so I started parking right next to the cart corrals.  Problem solved.  Try it people!

For some reason, there are never cart corrals near the handicapped parking…What’s with that?  Yet, I once saw a lady that was obviously having trouble walking, push her cart up to the other carts in front and then struggle back to her car in the handicapped lane.  I remember thinking, “If she can do it, why can’t everyone?!”

So, I guess my answer is that putting shopping carts away has been ingrained in me since childhood.  I wonder if one day my son with have the same issue?

What grates on your nerves?