The Dilemma of Convenience

My OCD went into hyperdrive today at the grocery.

My Kroger (that I call “Krogerville” because it’s so big it should have its own zip code) offers two sizes of shopping carts: the standard big one and a shorter, two-tier, smaller one. I appreciate the smaller ones because I’m too short to unload the larger ones easily. I usually find one in the parking lot and push it inside the store because there are times when all the smaller ones are outside.

It’s nice to have the choice, but the choice presents a big problem in the parking lot “Cart Corrals.”

Unthinking people often just shove their empty carts into the Corrals, willy-nilly, order and symmetry be damned, with big ones looking all sideways and catty-wampus, or smaller ones shoved haphazardly into larger ones. Or, worse, they just shove the carts in the general direction of the Corrals, not caring whether the carts actually get into the Corrals. And don’t get me started on the trash left in the carts!

I’m usually able to ignore all that disorder by just closing my eyes to it and scurrying back to my car.

Today, however, something in my growing-feebler-by-the-day brain snapped, and I found myself straightening not one, but TWO messy Corrals.  I worked up a pretty good sweat, but at least I didn’t draw a crowd of puzzled onlookers.

The Corrals looked much more orderly, and my blood pressure quickly dropped back down to its normal as a result.

I may need professional help.