The Theory of No Return

For as long as people have been peopling peopled places (see what I did there!), they have sought a simple way to determine if a person is a “good” person or a “bad” person.

Enter a shopping cart stage left.

Recently, the ‘shopping trolley theory” splashed across Twitter in Great Britain.  The premise of the theory is shockingly simple.  Here is the shopping trolley theory as expressed on Twitter:   

"The shopping cart is the ultimate litmus test for whether a person is capable of self-governing.  To return the shopping cart is an easy, convenient task and one which we all recognize is the correct, appropriate thing to do. To return a shopping cart is objectively right. There are no situations other than dire emergencies in which a person is not able to return their cart.

Simultaneously, it is not illegal to abandon your shopping cart. Therefore, the shopping cart presents itself as the apex example of whether a person will do what is right without being forced to do it.  No one will punish you for not returning the shopping cart, no one will fine you or kill you for not returning the shopping cart, you gain nothing for returning the shopping cart.

You must return the shopping cart out of the goodness of your own heart. You must return the shopping cart because it is the right thing to do. Because it is correct.

"The shopping cart is what determines whether a person is a good or bad member of society."

The theory post attracted more than 680,000 likes and 5,500 comments as people debated the premise of the theory.

So, here we arrive at the obvious question.  Are you a good person or bad person?

—Mitchell Hegman

Source:  www.mirror.co.uk