Replies

The shopping cart is a great watermark of personality to me - like making the bed in the morning. I actually included the below in a chapter of one of my self-help books:

CHAPTER TEN: WHEN IT’S ONLY YOUR SOUL WATCHING
The true test of a soul’s character is what he or she does when no one’s looking. Do you always do the right thing when it’s just you, knowing you won’t get any credit for your good behavior?

Not too long ago, a personality model built around a simple shopping cart began circulating through social media. The short, written piece was titled, “The Shopping Cart Theory.” In this theory, the anonymous author posited that returning or not returning the cart when done shopping was the ultimate test of good versus bad moral character. You be the judge.

The Shopping Cart Theory
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 anyone who can only be made to do what is right by threatening them with 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.

--------------------------------

While the end of the theory gets a little heavy, there’s value in the overall concept. When no one’s looking and no one but you can judge your good or bad deeds, what do you do?

Well, return the cart.

There’s absolutely nothing better than doing the right thing, especially when it’s only your soul watching.