An Old Man and a Shopping Cart

Jared here. I think this is my first time writing on this blog, but I had a relatively cool story to tell and this is the only place I could think to put it.

I just got back from Fry's. Tamara asked me to get 2 gallons of milk, a head of lettuce, and a few tomatoes. As I walked in the door, I was slowed down a bit by a Fry's employee who was pushing some shopping carts back into place at the front of the store. I noticed that he was an older guy - probably in his 70's. The first thought I had was, "What kind of rotten luck has fallen on this guy to be pushing shopping carts at his age." Then I thought to myself, "When are you going to learn to stop judging a book by its cover. Maybe he's just trying to stay busy. Maybe he just enjoys the work. In any case, you shouldn't jump to conclusions. Who knows, maybe some day you'll be pushing shopping carts at 10:00 PM. Will you want somebody analyzing the reasons?"

After this brief but intense internal battle, I carried on with my mission. As I went for the tomatoes, I saw some of the biggest apples I've ever seen. Can't remember what they're called, but I bought three just to show Tamara. Apparently, this type of apple always gets this big during the fall. And I just happened to get them while they are on sale (score)!

In any case, I went and got the milk, went through the checkout counter and left. When I got to my car, I noticed that there were 3 shopping carts sitting in the parking stall next to me. My first instinct was to just leave my cart there. (Yes, I got a cart for 2 gallons of milk, a head of lettuce and a few tomatoes ... don't judge).

My next thought was of something I read on the Matt Walsh Blog a while back. He pretty viscerally chastised people like me who often leave their shopping carts in the middle of the parking lot.

After remembering that only dirt bags leave their shopping carts in the middle of the lot, I looked around for the nearest shopping cart collection area (can't remember what they're actually called now). It was like 6 parking stalls away. "Well, that was a nice thought, but if I make sure it doesn't roll anywhere, it'll be fine."

Then I thought about the old man who was pushing the carts when I first walked into the store. "If I leave my cart here, it will mean more work for that guy." That thought put me over the edge and I got out of the car and started pushing the three carts together. I kind of pinched my fingers in the process which caused me too look down at the source of the pain. In doing this, I saw my phone and my wallet which I had placed in the child seat because I didn't have pockets. I had completely forgotten about them and would have left them had I not decided to put my shopping cart away. Crisis. Averted.

This kind of thing happens to me all the time. When I ignore my conscience, things in my life begin to come a bit unhinged. When I listen, my Heavenly Father shows me that he's there to help me keep it together. I’m too absent minded to trust my fate to luck.

I'm not trying to say that I did any grand thing for the old man. For heaven's sake, I put my cart away. This, as Mr. Walsh so harshly conveys, really only demonstrates that I'm capable of performing the minimum needed to be considered a civilized human being.

And I don't actually believe losing my phone and my wallet would have been the end of the world. Is it a brand new phone? Yes. Does it have a replacement value of a couple hundred bucks ... that I don't have? Yes. But there are more important things in life. As far as my wallet goes, the cards could have been replaced and I was only carrying $4 cash.

Even so, this experience impacted me. You see, I firmly believe that our Heavenly Father inspires us with simple little thoughts like the ones I had tonight. Its how he communicates with us. He's a perfect person so his message is pure and clear. Often we fill our own minds with things that distract us from the messages he sends us through our thoughts. I'm very glad that I didn't have my nose in a smart phone or have music playing in my ears. I'm glad that I was able to listen and that I acted upon what I was being fed.

It would have been pretty lame to lose my wallet and phone in the same trip. It would have been worse if I was too preoccupied with myself to think of an old grocery store employee who already looked pretty tired. It would have been tragic to miss out on an opportunity to see some evidence of my Heavenly Father's mercy.

"Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise."

The Book of Mormon, Alma 37:6

"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."

Matthew 7:12 

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Matthew 25:40