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Common Courtesy

Common Courtesy

Have you seen the viral video of the woman with the shopping cart ordeal? Even if you aren’t on social media, this woman even made the news. She made a video saying, “I’m not returning my shopping cart, and you can judge me all you want. I’m not getting my groceries into the car and my children into the car, then leaving them in the car to go return the cart.” People went absolutely crazy over this! You can google “viral lady who won’t return a cart,” and piles of videos come up, as well as news clips of people saying their thoughts on this video.

What’s your thought on this? Does it boil your biscuit? Or could you not care less if you saw her do it? Well, you know what’s coming. You are about to hear my thoughts on it. If you don’t put your cart back, then this article may just boil your biscuit! *enter cheesy smile here*

First off, I love grocery shopping. I find it relaxing. I think it’s the foodie in me. I just look up and down each aisle, prepare all the yummy meals in my head for the next two weeks for my family, or find new products/deals on certain items. I just don’t like the checkout part. Yuck. Makes me sick anymore! (Ha, that’s another whole article. ) There may be a day here and there that I just don’t feel like grocery shopping, but not very often. Grocery shopping is just one of those chores I truly don’t mind doing at all. I then go out to my car, load groceries, and return my cart. I park in the same aisle and around the same spot every time I go. That’s my OCD kicking in for sure.

My ten-year-old daughter knows we should put the cart back. When she was little, she loved the tractor carts at Wegmans. Those things were a royal pain on big shopping weeks because I could hardly fit everything in the cart. But she loved them so much that if they were there, she wanted to get one. I’d wipe the whole thing down before even putting her in. They kinda grossed me out, to be honest. Some weeks, there weren’t any left because they were all being used, and in my head, I was thinking, “thank god.” But then she would be so upset, which broke my heart. When she officially outgrew them, though, it was bittersweet. Now she just wants to be pushed around in a normal big cart and organize everything I put in. Putting it back some days, though, was a pain because it was so big that I’d have to find a cart corral for it to fit if other ones were too full. But never once did I leave it just sitting in the parking lot. Even last week, when rain was pouring down, I put the cart back. I’m sorry, but there is just no excuse.

I see elderly people slowly putting their carts back. I see disabled folks putting their carts back. I see people on their lunch breaks or in a hurry, still returning their carts. But here you have a “single mom” who refuses to put her cart back because she has “kids.” Can you imagine if every parent used this as an excuse!? There would be shopping carts all over the place! Being a parent is not an excuse to be an entitled jerk wad and not hold up your end of the deal for polite society. I rarely see someone not put their cart back, but if I do, I make sure to mention where the cart corral is to them. I think it’s so rude, lazy, and entitled. Sorry, not sorry.

Whether you put your cart back or not says a lot about who you are. Tell me I’m wrong.

When I see an eighty-year-old woman or man, barely walking, scuffing their feet along the pavement, just to get from their cart from the parking spot to a cart corral, I’ll ask if I can take it for them. Most of the time, they say they want to do it to exercise. But then you see some younger man or woman in tip-top shape shove their cart off to the side of their car and go their merry way, not thinking twice about what they just did. It’s crazy to me. What makes people so entitled? Your kids watch what you do. So, if they grow up with you just leaving their cart, chances are they will grow up to do the same thing. But if they grow up watching you put carts back or asking older people if they need help unloading their carts or putting the cart back, chances are high that they will grow up doing the same. Folks, it’s called common courtesy.

I always unloaded my groceries, took my cart back, and brought my kids to the car by carrying them when they were little or holding their hands. My kids always went grocery shopping with me. Here’s my question, though. How on earth did she get the cart to begin with!? You got a cart just fine with kids but can’t put it back with kids? You just make yourself sound absolutely ridiculous for your laziness, boo boo. Most of the world can see right through you, and it isn’t pretty.

Think about the carts running into vehicles. I’ve literally watched it happen on a windy day! Think about the person who will have to put the cart back for you. Think about someone disabled who already has a hard time getting around, and now they have to maneuver around your cart. Let’s think a little less about ourselves and think more about others. I don’t care if the corral is 10 feet away or 100 feet away. It’s your responsibility. If you can’t put it back, then don’t use a cart. See how that works out for ya.

OK, I am done.

Thanks to everyone who puts carts back. You rock! You are my kind of people!

Blueberry Buckle
(I’ll never not share this during blueberry season. It’s my favorite!!)

Ingredients:
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Topping
• 1/4 cup butter + 1 tablespoon
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8×8 pan.

In a large bowl, cream sugar, butter, egg & lemon zest until fluffy.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to sugar mixture, alternating with milk mixing just until combined.

Toss blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour. Fold into batter and spread in prepared pan.

Combine all topping ingredients in a small bowl until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter and bake 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.