by Pa Rock
Savvy Shopper
I am a creature of habit, a practice which tends to limit my shopping pattern to just a few businesses. I find a place where I like to shop and remain loyal to that business as long as I can. Last winter I left a grocery store that had been my major food provider for the preceding four years because the service provided by that store, the cheapest in town, just kept getting worse. I then switched my allegiance to Aldi's.
One of my routines when shopping at the previous grocery store was to gather up two or three shopping carts in the parking lot when I arrived and take them into the store. I wanted to help out. Aldi's, for those of you who have never visited one of their stores, has a unique way to avoid the plague of shoppers leaving their carts all over the parking lots. The carts are locked together, and it takes a quarter (25 cents) stuffed into a slot to free a cart. When the shopper has finished, he returns the cart to the gathering spot, re-locks it, and gets the quarter back.
This two-bit commerce has led to the evolution of a sort of shopping cart etiquette that often plays out on the parking lot as people are leaving and entering the store. As a person arrives to shop he or she is often met by somebody returning a cart who offers that cart to the new shopper. The proper response when that happens it to say "Yes, thank you" and hand them a quarter - because theirs in still in the slot in the cart. Often the other person will take the quarter as he relinquishes the cart, but sometimes the quarter is declined and the new shopper is encouraged instead to "pay it forward" and pass the cart along to someone else when they are done.
I never carry change, so I keep a quarter in my car so that I can get a cart when I go to Aldi's. When I am done shopping I turn my cart in, get the quarter back, and put it back in my car so I will have it next time. If someone gives me a cart as I am walking toward the store, I give them that quarter and then pocket theirs when I turn in the cart. If they give me a cart and refuse my quarter, I pass the cart along to someone else when I have finished with it. It may sound complicated, but in reality it is a simple process that runs very smoothly.
People seem to develop a social bond over the shopping carts and a sense of community prevails. There is, however, one demographic which seems to have somewhat of a problem with the process, particularly being charitable. That demographic is old folks, the few shoppers who are older than myself.
Last week as I was trying to enter the store, I had to literally step around a little old lady who was crouched down behind the glass entry door watching the parking lot. I wanted to shop, but sadly, she wanted to talk. "See that fellow," she said, "the one in the straw hat?" I acknowledged her quarry. She continued, "I gave him my cart, and he turned it in and took the quarter. Can you believe that?" What I couldn't believe was that she concealed herself in the store to spy on the guy that she had trusted with her quarter.
Then just a few days later another old codger gave me a cart as I was walking toward the store. I offered him a quarter and he declined, asking instead that I pass it along to another shopper when I finished - if I could. "Certainly," I said, and headed on toward the store. But the guy wanted to make sure, and he chased me down. "You will," he entreated, "pass it along - if you can." Once again I assured him that I would not pocket his quarter.
Conversely, young people often pass me their cart, decline my quarter, and make no demands on my future actions whatsoever.
I guess the older we get, the more important those quarters become.
Savvy Shopper
I am a creature of habit, a practice which tends to limit my shopping pattern to just a few businesses. I find a place where I like to shop and remain loyal to that business as long as I can. Last winter I left a grocery store that had been my major food provider for the preceding four years because the service provided by that store, the cheapest in town, just kept getting worse. I then switched my allegiance to Aldi's.
One of my routines when shopping at the previous grocery store was to gather up two or three shopping carts in the parking lot when I arrived and take them into the store. I wanted to help out. Aldi's, for those of you who have never visited one of their stores, has a unique way to avoid the plague of shoppers leaving their carts all over the parking lots. The carts are locked together, and it takes a quarter (25 cents) stuffed into a slot to free a cart. When the shopper has finished, he returns the cart to the gathering spot, re-locks it, and gets the quarter back.
This two-bit commerce has led to the evolution of a sort of shopping cart etiquette that often plays out on the parking lot as people are leaving and entering the store. As a person arrives to shop he or she is often met by somebody returning a cart who offers that cart to the new shopper. The proper response when that happens it to say "Yes, thank you" and hand them a quarter - because theirs in still in the slot in the cart. Often the other person will take the quarter as he relinquishes the cart, but sometimes the quarter is declined and the new shopper is encouraged instead to "pay it forward" and pass the cart along to someone else when they are done.
I never carry change, so I keep a quarter in my car so that I can get a cart when I go to Aldi's. When I am done shopping I turn my cart in, get the quarter back, and put it back in my car so I will have it next time. If someone gives me a cart as I am walking toward the store, I give them that quarter and then pocket theirs when I turn in the cart. If they give me a cart and refuse my quarter, I pass the cart along to someone else when I have finished with it. It may sound complicated, but in reality it is a simple process that runs very smoothly.
People seem to develop a social bond over the shopping carts and a sense of community prevails. There is, however, one demographic which seems to have somewhat of a problem with the process, particularly being charitable. That demographic is old folks, the few shoppers who are older than myself.
Last week as I was trying to enter the store, I had to literally step around a little old lady who was crouched down behind the glass entry door watching the parking lot. I wanted to shop, but sadly, she wanted to talk. "See that fellow," she said, "the one in the straw hat?" I acknowledged her quarry. She continued, "I gave him my cart, and he turned it in and took the quarter. Can you believe that?" What I couldn't believe was that she concealed herself in the store to spy on the guy that she had trusted with her quarter.
Then just a few days later another old codger gave me a cart as I was walking toward the store. I offered him a quarter and he declined, asking instead that I pass it along to another shopper when I finished - if I could. "Certainly," I said, and headed on toward the store. But the guy wanted to make sure, and he chased me down. "You will," he entreated, "pass it along - if you can." Once again I assured him that I would not pocket his quarter.
Conversely, young people often pass me their cart, decline my quarter, and make no demands on my future actions whatsoever.
I guess the older we get, the more important those quarters become.
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