Every trip to Walmart brings tears to my eyes. It seems as though only a few short seconds
go by before I spot clearly disabled individuals leaning upon shopping cart
handles to support themselves.
These poor folks of all sizes, colors, and ages sachet along
with obvious medical conditions pointing to missing spines.
All these patrons push their carts with their elbows,
hunched over as if ready to eat from a trough, and maneuver throughout the
store with little control of their “vehicles” and sporting dazed looks.
Such pathetic scenes are real tear-jerkers for other
shoppers – seeing the handicapped stress themselves out to obtain sustenance
and miscellaneous goods. The bravery of
these skeletally-deprived shoppers makes me think of all those boneless chickens
sold.
How tough would life be trying to exist without leg, back,
and chest bones? It’s clear all these
‘cart leaners’ are experiencing the same woes as our tasty boneless chicken
dinners.
Maneuvering their carts without the use of their hands makes
for a genuine challenge for them and their fellow shoppers, alike.
“Precision” is not a word associated with directing wire
baskets on wheels through limited spaces between fragile glassware and bottled
food stuffs. Quite often, these cart
leaners run into roof-supporting poles and other shoppers’ carts, then feigning
even seeing the injured party as if they miraculously arrived via transporter
from the Starship Enterprise.
And, while we’re on the subject of controlling your shopping
cart, when not pushing it, it should be neatly parked against one side of the
aisle. This simple procedure would allow
other people to easily pass the often-cramped spaces inside stores maximizing
the use of all valuable floor space.
I should not have to call to, and beg you, to move your cart
and over-inflated ego so that I may pass.
Yesterday, I was trying to make my way through the produce
department when a huge roadblock stopped me from proceeding. A self-centered clown had his cart turned
sideways in the aisle while he was examining corn-on-the-cob like a CSI
investigator searching for DNA. After
two calls to get his attention failed, I pushed his cart aside getting his
undivided attention. At that point, he
became belligerent to the position of attempting to make an example of me. He failed.
We are a nation of laws that range from not being able to
spit on seagulls, to murder, sometimes.
It should be the law that one must push their shopping cart with their
hands – both of them. And, walk upright
while doing so. Otherwise, those
lawbreakers could be considered jellyfish.
