Lessons Learned from the Trader Joe's Parking Lot

And we’re back. This is technically round 2 of me having a blog. I learned a lot the last time around. But I’m trying to be more intentional this time around. I want my message to echo the similar statements I talk to friends about. I want it to be another expression of my soul and my heart. And there’s no other place to show that then to talk about the Trader Joe’s Parking Lot. Yes, I’m being serious. 

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I really like Trader Joe’s. It’s a simple grocery store, with friendly staff, not too many items, and for me it has made grocery shopping less of a hassle and more fun. More about fun in the future. But this post isn’t about Trader Joe’s itself, actually this post has nothing to do with Trader Joe’s or grocery stores in general. This is about the little things from life I’ve learned from shopping at the same grocery store, on the same day of the week for almost two years. It’s about the humanity of it all. 

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If you are familiar with the internet you might have seen a post about putting shopping carts back. And this is what this post is. But it is also much more than that. The general theme is that putting your shopping cart back is a litmus test to show your humanity. 

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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. No one will punish you for not returning the shopping cart, no one will fine you or kill you for not returning the shopping cart, you gain nothing by returning the shopping cart. You must return the shopping cart out of the goodness of your own heart. You must return the shopping cart because it is the right thing to do. Because it is correct. A person who is unable to do this is no better than an animal, an absolute savage who can only be made to do what is right by threatening them a law and the force that stands behind it. The Shopping Cart is what determines whether a person is a good or bad member of society. - Glenn Danzig

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Glenn Danzig states that returning the cart is a test for self-governing. You don’t need to do it. You don’t get any Good Place points for doing so. You don’t get discounts on your grocery’s if you do. You just do it or you don’t. But it is much more than that. It’s a random act, returning the shopping cart. But returning the shopping cart opens up an infinite amount of possibilities. When you return the shopping cart you put it in a place that a random stranger will find it. By returning the cart you are allowing someone ease. The thing they are looking for is going to be in the right spot. Bit it's also more than that.

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Through my many years of playing sports I heard the phrase “leave it better than you found it.” Mainly this was referenced in cleaning the bench and not leaving water and trash on the sidelines, usually followed with a joke on how “we’re not the lacrosse team.” Leave the bench, better than how you found it. That’s what happens when you return the shopping cart. And maybe while you return your cart you see someone struggling corralling their bags into their car, so you help them out. You leave them better than when you found them. You do that random unprovoked act of kindness to benefit someone’s day, not because you feel called to, but because it’s just what you do. 

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But it extends beyond just the Trader Joe’s Parking lot. You returned your cart because it was the right thing to do, helping the random lady loading her car because it was the right thing to do. Those two acts while small and inconsequential, are much more than that. They won’t remember the brand name clothing you were wearing or the car you were driving. But they will remember how you made them feel. If you show kindness and generosity, that’s what people will say about you behind your back. Also while we are at it, let’s start saying nice things about people behind their back and compliment them to their face. 

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At worst, you go out of your way to help someone you lose 5 seconds of your day. At best you made their whole day. You don’t know what they are going through. If they are late to a meeting, school pickup, dance recital. But your little unprovoked act of kindness will make their day better. Maybe they smile a bit more. Maybe they pay it forward to someone else. 

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Humans are social creatures, and we often get so caught up in our own world that we forget about the ones around us. But when we do the little things and show up for others when there’s nothing in it for us we allow others and ourselves to express our full humanity. Talk to the cashier about their day, let them smile and laugh. We never know what someone is going through. But when we give them a second to laugh, smile, and have support the world becomes a better place. 

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Put your shopping cart back. Leave people better than you found them. Smile and laugh more and go make a random person’s day. 

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