Would Donald Trump return a shopping cart? No way — and neither would Elon Musk
Is returning a shopping cart a true sign of character? What do you think? The "shopping cart theory" suggests that a person's character can be judged by whether they return shopping carts when they finish shopping, rather than leaving them stranded in the parking lot. This theory has been debated online since 2020, with an article in 2017 asking why people don't return their shopping carts. A recent video by a mom on TikTok, which received millions of views, was met with negative responses, with the mom pointing out that she does not return her shopping carts due to their safety. However, she responded by citing statistics about parking lot crimes and lawsuits by lawyers who sue grocery stores. The theory suggests that external circumstances may influence shoppers' behavior, but not necessarily external circumstances.
Pubblicato : 3 settimane fa di in Politics
Have you heard about the “shopping cart theory”?
It basically states that a person’s character can be judged by whether they return a cart when they finish shopping — versus leaving it stranded in the parking lot, where it could impede other drivers or even roll and do damage to parked cars.
I only learned of the theory recently, when a mom posted a video on TikTok in which she bravely — or foolishly, depending on your point of view — admitted that she does not return shopping carts because she does not want to expose her young children to danger by leaving them alone in her car.
The post got millions and millions of views. The response was immediate and overwhelmingly negative. In the words of one TikToker, the mom was “dragged to filth” by her many critics.
Shopping cart mom — who is a forensic and clinical psychologist, according to the Los Angeles Times — responded with another TikTok in which she somewhat haughtily reeled off statistics about the bad things that happen in parking lots.
“There are actually lawyers who specialize in parking lot crimes and they sue the grocery stores and guess what — I’ve been a part of those cases,” she said.
I don’t really care about this particular mom and I’m not going to “drag her to filth” because she believes she would put her children at risk by leaving them in a car, unattended.
What’s far more interesting is this idea that we can judge a person’s character by whether or not they complete the mundane task of returning shopping carts to their designated corrals.
According to internet research, this theory has been kicking around online since 2020, though even earlier, in 2017, Scientific American published an article headlined, “Why don’t people return their shopping carts?”
It never really answered the question, though it did make this astute observation:
“That guy who didn’t return his cart may not be a complete jerk. He may just be using the example set by others so he can get home a little more quickly. But if everyone does that, then we’re shifting the balance of what is acceptable, which may have greater ramifications to the social order.”
There may be some truth to the shopping cart theory, though surely external circumstances have something to do with shoppers’ behavior. For instance, if it suddenly pours rain and the cart corral is, say, the equivalent of a half-a-block away, could anyone blame a shopper for finding some other safe space to park a cart?
Also, wouldn’t it be more accurate to have some other data points, such as whether diners bus their dishes at fast-casual restaurants or move over if someone wants to merge into their lane of traffic or — this is a big one — pick up after their dogs, even when no one is looking?
What would Oprah do?
Yet for what it’s worth, there could be value in applying the shopping cart litmus test to public figures.
Granted, they may no longer be in a position to push their own carts — or even shop for themselves — but based on our knowledge of their past behavior, we can make educated guesses as to whether they would pass the shopping cart test.
I believe we can unequivocally say that Donald Trump — indeed, most members of the Trump family — would flunk.
Consider: Would anyone who thinks he is doing a public service by tossing rolls of paper towels into a crowd of hurricane survivors be inclined to return a shopping cart?
Would someone who pushes another world leader out of the way in order to be front and center at a photo op be inclined to worry about whether an errant shopping cart might inconvenience or even endanger others?
And would a man who breaks a rule of royal etiquette by walking in front of the queen of England be at all concerned about doing the polite thing in an anonymous parking lot?
Joe Biden, on the other hand, would pass the test though he would later exaggerate the distance he had to walk from his car to the cart corral and the hardships he encountered along the way.
Moving on, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene would abandon her shopping cart smack in the middle of a meat department aisle and storm out of the store in anger after spotting “fake meat that grows in a peach tree dish.”
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem would dutifully return every cart — except for the defective ones. She’d take those into the alley and shoot them.
Gov. Gavin Newsom might neglect to return his cart if he thought he could get away with it. If he did have the misfortune to be caught in the act of abandonment, he would issue a sheepish apology that includes these words: “I should practice what I preach.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would regularly return his, if for no other reason than to one-up Newsom.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito would occasionally forget to return his cart while preoccupied with Godlier matters — and would later blame his wife for his lapse in judgment.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, on the other hand, would have his wealthy benefactor Harlan Crow not only return his cart, he would also rely on him to unload the groceries and cook his dinner .... in Bali.
Jeff Bezos would dutifully push his cart back to its rightful place, but only at Whole Foods markets.
Elon Musk would be too busy plotting world domination to ever bother with such a petty chore.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would return their carts to prove to the world that they are just ordinary, non-royal people — unless they were running late for dinner with the Clooneys, the Beckhams and Oprah.
Speaking of Oprah, that is one celebrity we can count on to always, always wheel her cart back to the corral.
Not only that, if she spotted a harried mom with a couple of kids buckled up in the back seat, struggling to load groceries in a car, Oprah would return that woman’s cart as well. She might even offer to buy her a new minivan so she’d have more space for all those shopping bags
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