Yorkton, I love ya, but we鈥檝e got to talk about a nasty habit you鈥檝e developed.
I hope I鈥檓 not stepping out of bounds here. I know I鈥檓 still a newcomer around town (hence the title of my semi-coherent column). I know I鈥檝e still got a lot to learn about the Prairies, country music, and denim before I鈥檓 a true resident.
But I like to think we鈥檝e developed something of a rapport over the last six months. We鈥檙e comfortable with each other. We have an easy-going chemistry. Which is why I think I can offer some constructive criticism. Just remember: Everything I say in this column comes from a place of love. With that said...
Put your shopping carts away or I鈥檓 going to scream from the water tower.
Does that sound like a petty complaint? Don鈥檛 I have better things to write about? Oh, absolutely, but I never said I wasn鈥檛 petty.
I first encountered this problem back in October. I drove to Save-On-Foods for groceries and a last-minute pumpkin. As I parked my car, I noticed an abandoned shopping cart in the lot. The wind pushed it and it started rolling towards the nearby Canadian Tire.
It kept going and going, building up speed. Nothing got in its way as it hurtled across the pavement. It was a bullet screaming toward one target: A parked car.
I was too far away to catch up with the cart in time. I could only watch as it rumbled across the parking lot, ready to collide with the rear bumper of someone鈥檚 car.
鈥淥h, woe and tragedy, won鈥檛 someone stop that runaway cart before calamity befalls it?鈥� I thought, but didn鈥檛 say because I鈥檓 not a soap opera character.
Thankfully, a good samaritan stopped the cart before it could pummel its target. Disaster was averted, but would it be next time?
Ever since that day, I鈥檝e seen countless abandoned carts in parking lots across town. Usually they鈥檙e planted in the middle of a parking spot. They turn the lots into Canada鈥檚 Worst Driver-style obstacle courses.
Now, I understand we all have busy schedules. Most of us pop into stores, grab something, and rush out of there. Time is not on our side. We don鈥檛 always have the luxury of putting our carts back in their stalls.
But we need to make the time. A stray cart is an annoyance at best and a bumper denter at worst. They鈥檙e hazards we shouldn鈥檛 have to deal with.
So the next time you see a cart standing in a parking lot, guide it back to its stall. Who knows? You might be saving your car from the next runaway cart with a grudge against vehicles.聽
