The viral “Shopping Cart Theory” says that a person’s moral character can be determined by whether they choose to return a shopping cart at a store to its designated spot or not. To put it simply, it supposedly determines who is a good person and who isn’t.
Now the only real problem with the theory that I can see is that it’s ableist. It states that “There are no situations other than dire emergencies in which a person is not able to return their cart.” This is not really the case since there are situations where it might be a bigger deal for those with disabilities or those suffering from chronic illness or pain. As long as we are counting those situations as “emergencies” then the theory stands.
The theory posted anonymously begins; “The shopping cart is the ultimate litmus test for whether a person is capable of self-governing. To return the shopping cart is an easy, convenient task and one which we all recognize as the correct, appropriate thing to do. To return the shopping cart is objectively right. There are no situations other than dire emergencies in which a person is not able to return their cart. Simultaneously, it is not illegal to abandon your shopping cart. Therefore the shopping cart presents itself as the apex example of whether a person will do what is right without being forced to do it.”
Here is the full shopping cart theory:
And here are some other life examples based on the same principle:
And of course we also have a alignment chart showing how the people who don’t return their shopping carts are evil and to what degree (I’m usually Chaotic Good, not gonna lie):
And this one is a funny little take on the trolley problem (which is a series of thought experiments in ethics and psychology, involving stylized ethical dilemmas of whether to sacrifice one person to save a larger number.):
And of course we have to have the political take on the shopping cart theory:
So what’s your take on the shopping cart theory? Do you always return your carts, barring a dire emergency or a disability preventing you from doing so? What alignment are you? Leave a comment below!
Sounds ableist if they fail to consider those with disabilities or injuries causing them to leave the cart where they parked. I always try to return it to the coral or the store, depending on how far away I parked. Alignment is somewhere between Neutral Good and Chaotic Good. Lawful Good if I don’t need to take the cart to my vehicle (1 or 2 bags to carry) and can leave it at the entrance to the store. The political spectrum is lost as I believe in a global resource based economy, so economic motivation is a moot point for me. 😉
Its always bizarre to me that people feel the need to argue things that require no argument. Same way saying Black Lives Matter has never meant only black lives matter, talking about returning shopping carts was never meant to be about the disabled, its not about toddlers either but we don’t need child activists to debate it. Of course if you’re not able to do it, its not about you. Not everything is an attack & I’m exhausted by how often everything we post needs a long disclaimer to head off all the dumb arguments people seem to need to make.
I’m approaching 70 & have many orthopedic issues. When shopping, I park far away, near a cart & use it as a walker, to & from to the
store for exercise. I have Handicap Plates. I will leave the cart there, with the brake on for some one who might want to use it similarly. This approach leaves an additional Handicap spot for some one who is more needing on it.
I pretty much shop at Aldi with the quarter usage thing. Before 2020 I would try to pass on the free cart to someone entering the store, if no one was around I would simply return it. In other stores, I’ll roll it into the cart collector thing and keep going. Leaving carts out, not in the way for anyone, allowed someone to still have a job. One of our girls works for a major grocery chain and she says that the baggers look forward to getting a break to go outside to collect carts because it gets them out of the store for a little while.
“Leaving carts out, not in the way for anyone, allowed someone to still have a job.” It’s a fake, make-work job, like gas pump jockeys in Oregon and New Jersey. Eliminating those jobs is a benefit to society. It’s like toll booth collector jobs. Those have all but disappeared in California. Now, when you cross a toll bridge or drive on a toll road, a camera takes a picture of you license plate, and you can either pay online or wait for the bill in snail-mail and pay the toll. This is unambiguously progress. Eliminating low-skill, time-wasting jobs always is progress. The people whose jobs are erased either find a next-best use of their time, or they don’t, but overall, society benefits.
Toll workers provide services other than just taking your money: they can provide directions, alert authorities if they see something suspicious (kidnapping, dui), or provide assistance to those experiencing medical emergencies, for example. Your low-skill, time-wasting job might be someone else’s regular, full-time, benefits providing opportunity for someone who wants to work.
The shopping cart test, like others (the waiter test, the toilet paper roll test, the full-waste-basket test, etc.) is not a perfect predictor of moral character, but it’s a very good one. But let’s dispense with your first cavil about it forthwith: “Now the only real problem with the theory that I can see is that it’s ableist.”
Complete bullshit. If the “otherly abled” person was able to navigate the cart 300 yards across the Costco parking lot, then the same person is able to navigate it some 20-30 yards to the cart corral.
“It’s ableist”
Those words tell me this entire article is bunk.
Same point as everyone else here. No one who understands this theory or is of the moral character to understand it would ever use it to judge anyone who has a disability.
I’d even suggest that anyone who argues against the core of this theory are much more likely to to be those that wouldn’t return the cart properly anyways and are just trying to muddy the waters to deflect.
When I’m going into the store, I’ll offer to take someone’s cart who is just done unloading to save them the trip to the corral, especially if they have children or are disabled. Same if I pass them on the way to the corral to drop off mine. Why wouldn’t you help someone if it was not really any trouble for you?
i love these “giving stupid sh!t d&d alignment charts” posts
thats it
nothing else
what did you expect
The true question isn’t whether it’s ableist, but whether it’s classist. Consider that there is an aspect of privilege to the conundrum. Examples:
1. Someone was raised and surrounded by people who don’t return their carts and thus they don’t see it as a big deal
2. People who are overworked and overstressed, have many children or the care of elderly and disabled, are dealing with mental health issues, etc
3. People who live in unsafe areas or have reason to be scared to be alone in a shopping lot, especially at night (ie lone women).
Just three broad examples of individuals who are otherly motivated in their behaviors and can’t be assessed with this seemingly simple litmus test. Reminds me of Alice in Wonderland and the Caucus race.