The Supermarket Trolley Theory
Are you adding to your society?
What’s the theory?
The supermarket trolley theory is a concept I heard about years ago from a friend. It basically is the self-test of goodness, discipline, respect. Sounds like a lot of tests just from a trolley right? well - let me explain.
The theory is based around the concept of someone who has completed their shopping at the supermarket and has unloaded their groceries from the trolley and into their car.
What happens next, is what defines what type of person they are. What happens next in regards to what they do with the trolley, can tell a lot about their personality.
We can all agree that OBJECTIVELY returning the shopping cart to its designated area is the RIGHT thing to do unless in dire emergencies. It is for the overall good of the community.
It is an action that is not a legal requirement, you will not get arrested for not doing it, you will not get hunted for not doing it and neither will you get rewarded for doing it - therefore, this makes the trolley the test that reveals whether someone will do what is right and overall good for society when they are not forced to do it.
Can I just say, this test doesn’t mean you are evil or a horrible human being, maybe you just haven’t thought about it or you are just carefree and don’t give a shit. It doesn’t make you a horrible person for not returning the trolley knowing well enough it’s the right thing to do, it does make you a di** though - in my opinion.
Let’s discuss some possibilities of what can happen to the trolley and what that means about you:
Leaving the trolley next to your car:
This is when you just shove your trolley to the side and get in your car and leave. There are many reasons why one would do this and what it could mean, so let’s cover some of them.
You thought about returning it and just told yourself
“Nah, I don’t care”
This would make you fail the self-test of goodness, discipline, respect. In a test where there are no repercussions and no benefit, the only thing is doing the objective RIGHT thing and adding good value to society, you chose to not do it because there are no repercussions to you or any benefit (One can argue self-fulfilment is a benefit - however, this should make you want to return the trolley). At that moment, it is just you and the trolley and what is the right thing to do which is to return it back to the trolley dock. Not doing it doesn’t cause you any problems, no one is going to arrest you, fine you, scream at you (maybe someone will do this). So your actions here speak loudly about the general ‘goodness’ in you.
You are in a rush because of a genuine emergency - running late to friends meet up or something is not a good enough excuse in my opinion. So genuinely think, do you have time to return it or not. Are you rushing to the hospital? are you late to pick up your child? - then obviously, f**k that trolley and go. Are you a few minutes late to pick your partner for dinner for a reservation that isn’t time-sensitive? Then return the trolley. Is the reservation time-sensitive and you’re already running late? again, F**K the trolley and go enjoy your dinner with your partner. Are you just tired/lazy? think twice before just abandoning the trolley
Selfish reasons that are OKAY - will returning the trolley cost you extra money on the parking meter? LEAVE. Will returning the trolley make you miss the first part of a movie at the cinema? LEAVE. Sometimes in life, it is okay to be selfish and in MY PERSONAL OPINION, if there is something important that you are going to miss out on / or lose some money if you took an extra 1-2 minutes to return the trolley, then don’t return it.
Returning the trolley:
You are genuinely returning it because it is the objective RIGHT thing to do - then good for you, you are a good part of the society!
You are returning the trolley because you don’t want people to look at you and judge you for not returning the trolley. Even though this is not ‘from the kindness of your heart’ you are still doing the right thing and the outcome at the end is the same thing. There might be a part of you that is doing it for the right thing to do or not, it doesn’t matter.
You have read about the trolley theory and you are trying to be good - this is good. You are trying to change and do the objective right and good thing to do. Whether it is genuine kindness or you just trying to do the ‘right thing, it doesn’t MATTER because the outcome at the end of it is the same.
You get self-fulfilment from returning the trolley. You feel good about doing it. Knowing you are doing a good thing and adding to society. That feeling is probably the same feeling you get when giving charity, helping an elderly person cross the street, slowing your car down for people to cross or more specifically an elderly person, child, pregnant lady to cross. There is nothing wrong with this reason, It is perfectly okay to get satisfaction from this.
So, what do you do?
Ask yourself this. Are you adding overall good to society? are you not doing the objectively right thing to do? Why? Do you always have a good enough reason? DO you really?
Consider changing and doing the objective right and overall good thing to do.
No one judging you. No one watching you.
It is just you and the ‘overall good’.
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My name is Habib and I am a final year Medical student currently in Cyprus. I grew up in Tanzania (Hakuna Matata is from the local language of my country and the second tallest mountain (Kilimanjaro) is found there).
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