There's a moment in every grocery store parking lot that nobody officiates. You've loaded your bags, you've got your keys in hand, and the cart is just sitting there. The corral is maybe forty feet away. Nobody's watching. No fine, no reward, no record of what you do next. And yet some people always return it — rain, heat, bad knees, and all. What separates them from the folks who leave it two spaces over? It turns out the answer runs deeper than politeness. Psychologists, anthropologists, and behavioral researchers have all taken a serious look at this tiny, unenforceable act — and what they've found is worth knowing.
-Alemaster
*****
Shopping carts scattered around a parking lot is one thing you do not see around here. Period. Most of us even walk the cart back to the store when we're done with it.