As a small business owner who works mostly from home I have been blessed to be able to keep our son with me during the day instead of sending him to daycare. My son is only just over a year old but having him so much of the time has let me start instilling in him the values that I feel will make him a better person as he grows up. One of the regular events that I use to this end is when we go the store. It’s always a bit of a production trying to make sure his diaper bag has everything we will need and singing silly songs along the way to keep him occupied while we’re in the car. But I find little ways every time we go out to teach him by example what it means to be a responsible and productive person.
We go to Food Lion about twice a week. I could do all the shopping in one trip if we waited for my wife to get home but shopping for groceries is a great time to teach responsibility. We spend the time in the store looking quite silly to the other shoppers as we go by talking to each other and making strange faces. But the lesson for the day starts in the parking lot on the way back to the car. My son sits in the cart as most children do with all the groceries in the main section of the cart. When we get to the car I turn it on to get the AC running and start putting everything in the trunk. Once all the groceries are stored in the trunk my son and I go to the cart rack. I always let him know that responsible people put their cart back. More than once I have done this more loudly than needed when I saw someone doing the wrong thing. And more than once they have acted like they were going to put their cart back the whole time.
Leaving your shopping cart unsecured in the parking lot rather than putting it away when you’re finished with it may seem minor in the scope of things, but it stems from a mentality within our country that says “it is now someone else’s problem and not mine”. This mentality is mirrored within our government every time congress spends money without paying for it, or when they take from social security to pay for their pet projects without thought for those who will need social security in 30 years to survive. When we say “it’s not my problem” or “let someone else deal with it”, we can’t blame our government who is of the people, by the people, for having the same mentality we do. I challenge you to not only put your cart back when you’re finished with it, but to use a cart that was left in the parking lot the next chance you get. I further challenge you to remind your children why you put your cart back every time they are with you, and make sure other people hear you say it so they might think twice when it is their turn. Putting your cart back on a sunny day is easy, but we need to make the right choices on rainy days too. If we all make our choices based on what is right and not what is convenient at the time then soon we will see our government mirroring our behavior in the choices they make.I would love to hear what you think of this post. Please feel free also to share any ideas you have on how we can fit little lessons into everyday life. Our children are counting on us.
3 comments:
I posted(on FB): Really? I always put my cart back, but I fail to see the connection between putting your cart back and the strength of our economy. The kid that collects the carts and takes them back to the store collects them whether they are in the corral or not. If you take your cart back to the store, that may be one less job.
Joe Responded(on FB): If you are suggesting that we should create needless jobs out of laziness I am shocked. I suppose We should make the carts roll better so the local body shop can have more business too. And the correlation fits perfectly. Much of the spendi...ng our country commits itself to is wasteful in nature. If we cannot be responsible enough to put our cart back or pick up after ourselves then that mindset translates into how we use our money. Please post your comments on the blog too so we can share this dialogue more widely. I enjoy your input and think others will too.
To which I respond: The mindset is similar, yes. But it is about the customer and making it as easy for them as possible in the most cost efficient methods possible. The cart racks are put there for you to return your cart to them...which you do. So SOMEONE has to collect them and bring them back to the store for use. Unless you are suggesting that people without carts will buy more?
Ridiculous. Also, the carts DO get repaired when they roll too poorly to be used. But it is a matter of deciding when they need repairs. Those aren't jobs that are unnecessary or created out of laziness....they are merely the business thanking their clientele by not requiring extra work for them.
The cart racks are put in place for responsible shoppers, and shoppers that care about other shoppers and their vehicles put their carts back, but they will be collected regardless. There is no physical effect on the economy when it comes to returning or not returning your cart...and, to be honest, I think those that do not return their carts are a symptom of the problem that has led to a weak economy...not the source of the problem. The laziness breeds from other places and seeps over into shopping...it doesn't start at the cart rack and work it's way to Washington.
I appreciate your input on the matter Daniel and you raise some good points. I wanted to read over the blog post before replying to your comment so I might better understand where you’re coming from. I think you might be confusing the mentality the makes one leave their cart out in the open with the action taking place. I tried to make clear in my post that it was the mentality of the individual and not the action. But perhaps I should be more careful wording things in the future. I look forward to any future comments you may have on topics within this blog.
The mindset still isn't the problem, though. Whether we like it or not, the mindset will do what it can get away with....or thinks it is getting away with. Gathering up those carts requires effort and time...and therefore, it requires money. That money is tied up into the cost of the items you buy in the store. But it is a tiny percentage.
In the market environment, their behavior is tolerated because they are spending the money to pay for the carts to be returned. But it is a market driven idea....and therefore, has no effect on the economy at all. If you leave the store with items in the cart that you paid for, you also paid your share to the cost of someone coming to get the cart. So you can "afford" to do whatever you want with it.
What is killing our economy is debt(both government and personal) and inflation. Both of these are problems arising directly from the government. People chose to go into debt themselves, but the reality is that if the government hadn't greased the wheels of corruption, the banks would never have loaned to the majority of the people now defaulting on their debt.
Inflation is a DIRECT result of the federal reserve printing money.
Both of these things result when a government is elected based on who promises the bigger and better things...and the majority who vote for those people are the people NOT PAYING THEIR SHARE. Most of them either don't have jobs, or are given tax deductions and credits to the point that they pay ZERO or even receive back more than they ever paid.
This is what happens when a system is voted on by those who do not have to pay for the system.
If it is to be fixed, those who are receiving money from the government, in any form, should not have voting privileges.
It will never happen....so the only other option is to convince them(the uneducated and selfish) that they will be better served in the long-term if they will vote against their short-term gain.
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