Abandoned Shopping Carts: An Economic Indicator?
Many indicators exist that various groups use to gauge the health of the job market. Unemployment numbers are the most commonly stated indicator, but I am going to suggest another less obvious one, abandoned shopping carts.
I live in Irvine, a city that is in good economic shape compared to other cities. Irvine has saved up a sizable reserve fund, and, although Irvine is tightening its belt, so far the city is getting through the economic downturn without reducing services or letting go city staff–claims many other cities cannot make.
Add to that the median family income in Irvine is approximately $108,000, well over Orange County’s median family income of approximately $75,000. Based on this information, you might think that Irvine residents are not feeling the economic pain. Not so, by my admittedly unscientific and anecdotal economic indicator.
In my Northwood neighborhood in Irvine, I have noticed something that I have not seen much in the past, abandoned shopping carts. My speculation is that either some Irvine residents are recently finding themselves without a car or they are feeling the need to save every possible dollar, including gas dollars.
This issue was brought up in a recent city council meeting, and the council instructed the city staff to come back in August with suggestions on how to handle this situation.
In the public comments portion of the council meeting, a Boy Scout made a suggestion that was elegant in its practical simplicity: Some shopping carts have phone numbers that can be called. Once called the appropriate store has someone pick up the cart in a timely manner. The scout’s suggestion was to require all stores to include a retrieval number. Then neighborhood volunteers will monitor the area and call the retrieval number when necessary. (By the way, it should be noted that this scout was so dedicated that he waited through a particularly long council meeting to get the time needed to state his suggestion. Unfortunately, I don’t have his name.)
We will see what the staff comes up with. I hope that it will be something along the lines that this scout suggested. In other words, I hope that it is something that solves the problem but does not make the lives of Irvine residents who have found themselves in economic difficulty even more challenging.
One more observation: no group is unaffected by this downturn. We are in this together.
PHOTO COURTESY STACKSANDSTACK