What I See with Peter Fiorenza: Why abandoned trolley ‘epidemic’ is a sign of how selfish society is becoming

The other day I was talking with some mates about things that annoy me. To be quite honest, the list of things that annoy me gets longer and longer the older I become. But, I suppose that is the same story with most of us — we do tend to get locked into the way we do things as the years go by. Even so, I reckon there is no excuse for a lack of common courtesy. A polite “please” or “thank you”, a greeting when you walk past somebody, or shaking a person’s hand are steadily being eroded from our daily routines or rituals. And above all, taking your shopping trolley back after using it! Yes, you’ve got it, abandoned shopping trollies is definitely something that gets on my nerves. I find it hard to comprehend why someone would not return a trolley after using it. Yet it seems this is a rapidly growing issue, with local shopping centre car parks filled with empty carts. Often, it doesn’t even look like there has been any attempt to take them back, with many left beside cars, or just right out in the open. And to add to this, quite a few trollies can be found in streets and parkland, sometimes kilometres from home-base. I don’t know if it’s forgetfulness, laziness, or just plain outright rudeness, but it’s got my goat and I’m on a crusade to turn things around. Although the “crusade” thing is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, I think this “abandoned trolley” epidemic is a sign of a much bigger concern. There, no doubt, have been fantastic advancements in society that have helped make our daily lives easier and more efficient, however, the focus on technology, mainly in respect to communication, has seen a distinct change in what we value. The evolution in communication has resulted in people becoming downright selfish. Yep, we have become so reliant on having everything at our fingertips, many of us, it would seem, have become both arrogant and selfish. This fashionable “time-poor” term is nothing but a trumped up excuse for people who are really too greedy — trying to fit everything in instead of taking the time to smell the roses Perhaps I might be drawing a long bow, but I really do believe we are letting the tail wag the dog. It’s a bit like drivers who need to pass everyone in front of them —but, hey, that’s another story all on its own. Peter Fiorenza hosts Fiorenza on Sunday between 10am and noon on Radio MAMA