I was grabbing a cart for a spree at the local Fry’s when I noticed that something had been printed on the backside of the child seat flap. You know what I’m talking about. That flat plastic, spring-loaded flap that keeps your groceries in the child seat and is a minor pain to manage with a squirming child? Anyhow, I digress. On the back of this flap was about 5-6 lines of an Arizona law (A.R.S for those in the know). And I paraphrase:

“It’s illegal to remove this, or any other, shopping cart from the premesis.”

Was I being old fashioned when I thought that was covered under the “don’t take things that aren’t yours” laws? The only individuals this might affect is the homeless or the already illegal members of our society. Many of which I’m sure are law abiding citize…I mean, members of our society, but the rest already disregard laws and those who follow them.

Whether it’s foolish grocery store lobbyists coercing local lawmakers to enact silly laws such as this, or just bored lawmakers causing trouble and inflating our government even more, it’s dumb. Plain and simple dictation of morality upon people with enough confusion when it comes to right and wrong. Both the people taking the carts and the police that enforce our laws know that taking such a shopping cart is wrong. It’s stealing plain and simple.