If youre on top of the Interweb universe like me, you probably already know The Shopping Cart Theory is the latest thing to mindlessly discuss. Ive been interested in shopping carts for yearsbuggies to Southernersbut didnt know the things were a barometer to a persons possible conduct.

The Shopping Cart Theory states whether a person places their cart back into the rack rather than leaving it wherever they please determines the goodness of that person. Not sure Im buying what theyre selling, but thats what the theory claims.

Sylvan Goldman invented carts in 1937 to get groceries from the store to the vehicle to help the customers save energy and also surreptitiously encourage them to buy more. Carts seem like a great service. All the customer needs to do is place the cart in the handy rack near their parking spot when finished.

The Theory claims that since there is no punishment for leaving the cart next to ones auto, the only pressure is societal norm. People who are innately good will return the cart to its resting place, and those who arent wont.

My first discovery of anything involving buggies was noticing when anyone left his or her cart in an unacceptable place someone else would soon leave a second cart next to it. A subtle permission slip since the second guy only copied another persons dubious action.

For those folks, like this one, who were raised by a mother who would immediately retort, If Tommy jumped off a cliff, would you? that implied permission is null and void. But I find this part of the Shopping Cart Theory to be more indicative of human behavior than the simple good vs. bad analogy.

Very little about human behavior is simple. We are influenced by all kinds of conflicting signals, most of which we havent even discovered yet. Our brain rewards us for actions that promote our survival and punish us for things that threaten it. We have all types of societal norms based on myths from centuries ago and more modern theories based on unreliable internet postings.

Most people refusing to return carts to racks may simply be lazy. They then complicate things by justifying their choice with excuses. I didnt see a cart caddie nearby. I was too tired to return it. I was saving someones job. Food is too expensive for me to do their work. When you want to justify something questionable any excuse will do.

I think many of us want determining the goodness of people to be simple. We like to think that societal norms and upbringing can determine the internal quality of a person. Many religions claim to be the originator of morality, yet there were people coexisting peacefully with each other for hundreds of thousands of years before the first religion was ever established.

I consider myself a good judge of character, yet Ive been surprised many times by people doing the opposite of what I thought they might do. The truth is we have no idea how to determine a persons goodness.

Maybe its time to stop judging people. You know, like the Good Book says.

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The Shopping Cart Theory - Columbia Star