3.19 The Book of Annoyance: Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping is the last urban battleground. You wouldn’t think the modern way of foraging for food could be so annoying, I mean, we’re not exactly talking hunting and gathering. But in some grocery stores across the country, it’s pretty close. The battle begins in the parking lot. The badlands. Signs and notices affixed everywhere inform the customer the wheels will lock if an attempt is made to remove a shopping cart from store property. I always thought an abandoned shopping cart with the store logo was a passive-aggressive way to advertise. Product placement in the real world. These days, despite all the signage, people insist on calling the store’s bluff.

I pass a customer with a cart half on the grocery store’s property and half off. They did not heed the warnings. The customer swears to himself. Tries to force the cart over the curb. Tries to wrangle the metal beast containing food they need to live, in order to continue making the same intelligent decisions as this current one.