Daily Ick: Your Shopping Trolley Has Taken a Parking Space

In this invented supermarket car park, a driver spots an empty space between two cars. The indicator clicks. The turn begins. Then a shopping trolley comes into view, parked diagonally across the bay with the confidence of something that has paid for the whole afternoon.

It has no shopping in it. It has no appointment. It is simply enjoying the space.

The driver straightens up and continues around the car park. The trolley remains where it is, having successfully defended its territory without moving a wheel.

A parking space with a tenant

Today's tiny ick is leaving an empty shopping trolley in a marked parking bay. The most impressive part is how little trolley it takes. Place it at the right angle and a modest wire basket can take a whole space out of circulation.

From across the car park, the bay looks empty. Up close, it contains a small piece of unfinished business. You can keep driving, or you can park somewhere else, walk back and adopt a trolley you never asked for.

Of course, moving it would take very little time. That is precisely what makes the situation so good at producing a petty internal monologue. You're doing a tiny errand on behalf of somebody who has already gone home with the biscuits.

A fair hearing for the shopper

Getting the groceries into the car can be a juggling act. There might be a child to buckle in, rain coming sideways or a bag that has chosen this moment to give up on its handles. The trolley return may be farther away than it looks. Sometimes a person simply has a good reason to get out of the car park quickly.

And the trolley doesn't tell you how it got there. It might have rolled. It might have been moved by somebody else. A stray trolley is a poor witness.

Still, when the return is handy and you can manage it, putting the trolley away is a small favour for whoever comes next. You may never see their face, but they'll get to finish a turn they already started.

Our subjective verdict: mild ick for knowingly leaving the trolley across a bay. The trolley itself is innocent and, judging by the angle, rather pleased with its parking.

Ick or innocent? Does leaving an empty trolley in a parking bay get your tiny vote of disapproval, or would you drive on without a second thought?