this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2023
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I live in Sweden; rarely do I ever see a shopping cart just sitting in the parking lot. Can't remember a time in the last decade.
I figure it’s mostly an American thing we’re too European to understand.
You think so? Are Americans really more lazy/inconsiderate people? Some other reason why this might be more common there?
American here. The answer is emphatically "yes".
I don't think you've ever left the country then
You need to travel more then
Well that's disheartening. Why do you think that is?
American Exceptionalism/Individualism
I dont think so. It’s just that I’ve been in several EU countries, and Ive never encountered this issue here.
I think the real reason might be that majority if not all supermarkets require coins to unlock the shopping cart.
Sorry, I've become confused about what you mean by "here" or "there", and where you are based.
You mean coins are required in America? Because not in Sweden. They used to be, like 20-15 years ago. But they removed that. Not sure if there was a law that came into effect or something but... not anymore with the coins. Carts are free to take into the store without coins. Still, everyone returns them.
I still do it without coins because that's what I've done in my entire life. Like, not returning the cart never even entered my mind as a possibility (it's still not one).
I've seen some un returned carts sporadically, but I've always assumed that there was some emergency.
On the Internet however? I've seen people argue that not returning carts is good for the economy because there's people whose job is to return those, and if we did return the carts they would lose their job. Which is... Stupid to say the least.
Right, let's all become murderers so we can create homicide detective jobs... Makes perfect sense. 🙃🙄 Very silly argument indeed.
Sometimes I just feel like people like to argue for the sake of arguing. Or that they don't fully understand what they are saying.
Mostly Americans who don't travel say this because they haven't experienced lazy people in other countries. I've seen plenty of dumping of trash, destruction of natural places, etc in other countries.
Probably more in the continental Europe, right? Or further east? I feel like Scandinavian people are quite clean and take responsibility for trash. We have a good community system as well I think. Garbage is collected and disposed.
I dunno. Sometimes it bothers me how people don't sort their trash correctly in the correct bins, like how hard is that? But at least they bring it there, right? 🤷♂️
HA! The Norwegians have terrible air quality because their mountains clog smoke in valleys. I noticed this when looking up the UKs and spotted my English city had better air quality than lots of Norway. Swedish hobgoblin motherfuckers.
I wouldn't associate air quality with the people being responsible with their trash or returning their shopping carts lol. Maybe I should? 😆
We have absolutely enormous parking lots, and yeah, Americans are lazy and have an abundance of food. Maybe not more inconsiderate, but Hanlon's Razor comes into play here. If you don't believe me, just go to any Golden Corral. There absolutely will be multiple families in there where every single person weighs over 250 pounds, even the 8 year old kid.
I remember a girl in highschool that was an exchange student from Botswana(?) was a bit upset that she was too fat to go home after living here for a school year. She'd gained like maybe 5 pounds. As far as all us Americans were concerned she finally didn't look anorexic.
My brothers and I would run around the parking lots gathering up all the carts rather than go into the store. This was especially fun at Aldi's cause we got a quarter for each cart, and could get some candy.
No no, I already believe that. I think that's one of the most soothing and comforting adages ever. I suppose it's just not in many Americans' culture to think in terms of "what good can I be to society during my lifetime/today/in this situation," rather than "how can I help myself/make the smallest burden for myself, right now". I dunno.
I remember when I came to America for a few months, twice. I would gain a lot of weight both times. I thought it was quite frustrating. But cheap food really is bad for you.
That's a cute story about your brothers. ☺️