Minnesotans Need To Learn To Share This Space

Imagine if you will, a world where no one sees you. You are there, trying to function just like everyone else, but it’s like no one else sees you.  

This may sound like one of those dreams you need to talk with your psychiatrist about, but it’s not. It’s real life for those people who need to use motorized shopping carts to get around stores. 

This is not a joke, although I'm some people will find it humorous.  

Getting around a store when you need the assistance of the special shopping carts is difficult. I found this out, not because I had to use one, but my wife did. She struggles with debilitating arthritis plus she also has Leukemia. So, getting around most days can be a challenge. 

She recently tweaked her back a little bit, which caused a fair amount of discomfort. After not leaving the house for a few days, she was feeling some better and wanted to go to the store with me.  

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I had to talk her into using the motorized shopping cart because she said people pretend like you’re not there when you use one of those and make the whole process frustrating. I wanted her to be able to go into the store, so she agreed to use the cart.  

As I walked behind her, I saw exactly what she feared. Other shoppers would get right up on top of us, like we weren’t there, and I was standing up. As she tried to go from one aisle to the next, people would just turn their shopping carts almost right into her and then force their way through when they finally realized she was there.  

I was complaining about this to a good friend of mine, and he echoed what my wife had said. Last year he had to have surgery on his ankle and was on crutches for a while. Once he was encouraged to get up and move around again, he would go to the store and try to use the motorized carts.  

He spoke of the same difficulty I witnessed with my wife, about how people didn’t want to share the aisle with him or would push their carts right into him.  

So, the next time you’re shopping, try to be mindful that most people that are using those carts are doing so for a reason. They face difficulties already, and they’re like you just trying to get what they need and get out.  

Oh, and one more thing. If you see someone using these motorized carts, but they stand up to get something off a shelf, don’t automatically assume they don’t really need that special cart. Taking a few steps is a whole lot easier than “trekking” around the entire store. Hopefully you never have to find out like these folks do each time they go to the store.