Superstores are getting common in Pakistan. It’s not uncommon to find a superstore in your vicinity with the increasing number of outlets opening up each day. The increased number of superstores pose many problems for motorists, such as traffic jams near the stores, finding empty parking spots, etcetera. But these are not the only problems. One such problem is the stray shopping carts in the parking lots.
If you happen to visit a superstore on a busy day you would notice that most of the parking spaces are taken over by the stray shopping carts left there by the irresponsible shoppers. I mean, why is that people find it so hard to return their shopping carts to the stands or proper places?
These carts not only fill up parking spaces for no reason but also scratch your cars if you are not careful. Just imagine you have a barbeque party with your friends and suddenly the host tells you that we are short of Barbicans and asks you to bring some from the nearby store. You reluctantly say yes and speed up to the nearest superstore to get some. You spot an empty parking space and hurriedly park there, fearing someone else might take your birthright. Unfortunately, it’s not your lucky day. In the process of parking the car quickly, you miss the nearby abandoned shopping trolley and *BAMM*. You hit the trolley and scratch your precious 23.5-year-old vehicle.
I sometimes wonder how can people be so inconsiderate that they abandon the shopping carts. The same shopping carts that were with them for the whole 4 hours of shopping. I mean even these carts have emotions. How would you feel if someone uses you for four hours and then abandons you in an empty parking lot?
It does not require an extra effort to leave the cart at the proper place, or at least at the corner where it does not cause a nuisance to the other shoppers. Ever wondered what must be the cart-abandoners think when they are about to leave the cart? Something like, “Yeah. I think this is perfectly fine. I will just leave the cart here, right in the middle of the parking space. This almost looks natural.”
This is a major problem and a cause of nuisance, which needs immediate attention otherwise it would come off as a natural disaster if you just consider how rapidly these superstores are taking over the retail scene.
The West, like always, have a better solution to solve this problem. In some stores, you have to pay a dollar to get the cart and when you are done with shopping, you return the cart and get your dollar back. It is as simple as that.
The reason of this post is to highlight the issue and increase the awareness about this problem. Our actions cause trouble to the people we share this world with. We need to take responsibility of our actions if you want to see the change.
So from this moment onwards, promise yourself that you will take out some extra 25 seconds from your uber busy schedule and put that cart right where it belongs.
