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The Aldi Quarter

I like Aldi; it's more transcendental than financial

By David Louis StanleyPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
Top Story - May 2021
38
Illustration by author

I like Aldi.

I like the concept. I like the selection, the quality, the prices. I like the folks who work at our Aldi: helpful, funny, patient.

But here’s what I really like about Aldi.

The quarter. Yes, the 25 cent piece. You want a cart, there is a 25₵ deposit. When you return to cart to the station, you get your two bits back. And this, people, is where I really like the Aldi quarter.

You see, there is an Aldo ethos that contributes to the gestalt of the Aldi experience.

Far more often than not, when I get out of my car, I’m hailed by someone who’s just unloaded their groceries.

“Hey, wanna cart?”

“Sure, thanks. Hey, here’s a quarter.”

“Nope, just pass it along to the next one.”

“You got it. Thanks, friend.”

That simple gesture makes Aldi, not Disney World, the happiest place on Earth. See, with Disney World, you’ve got months, maybe years, to build it up in your mind. Which rides, which walk-around food, which restaurants, which beaches, pools, waterparks? Hell, they’ve got a stranglehold on magical thinking.

But grocery shopping? Hell, we all have to do it, and most of us, if Instacart and Shipt numbers are to be believed, don’t revel in the experience. Except those of us with a handy Aldi. It’s The Aldi quarter moment.

You see, when someone offers you their cart, you receive a gift of kindness that lasts throughout the shopping experience. You’ve just interacted with a total stranger in a moment of thoughtful compassion.

(I know what you might be thinking. “Yeah, they’re just saving themselves the walk back to the cart station. It ain’t about the money.” You’d be wrong. Because at every Aldi I’ve been to, the walk is short; not even to a frugal man like myself is it worth a quarter to save those 39 steps.)

It’s not about the quarter. It is the moment. Rich or poor, white or Black or Latine, beater 1998 Chevy Silverado held together with bondo and duct tape or a brand new Lexus, dressed in rags or Ralph Lauren finery, you have interacted with another human for a few seconds in an intimate way; the giving of a gift.

In those Seventeen Seconds, you made a conscious decision to be generous. For the one who receives the cart, they become conscious of that generosity. They must welcome the gift, and that includes a promise to pass the gift along. It is not possible to enter an Aldi with a gifted cart and not feel a certain buoyancy.

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.

If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

-His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama

I’ve never seen a parking lot fight, or even a shouting match, at an Aldi. Or a customer lose their shit at an employee over some slightly moldy fruit that the employee is trying to exchange for the customer and keep a smile on their face. Or an employee berate an elderly shopper who cannot find the coffee creamer that is literally inches from their face. Or a customer scream at an employee because the store ran out of an advertised item as the employee tries to offer a raincheck. I’ve never seen one customer shout at another when they bumped carts. I’ve never seen two customers get into a pushing and shoving match that looked like a weak version of an NHL fight in front of the bottle return.

I’ve seen all these things at other stores. You have, too. Maybe you’ve participated in one or two of them. It happens, eh? You’re stressed, you lose your sense of what is actually important, and next thing you know, security has you by the back of the belt and, on your tiptoes, ‘escorts’ you out the door.

You don’t want to be that guy. You’re pretty certain you’re NOT that guy. But there you are, seated forlornly outside the store, flanked by security as they await the arrival of the local constabulatory for your public temper tantrum.

This does not happen at Aldi. Aldi may have started their 25 cent cart deposit as a way to keep their parking lots clear. The quarter helps the budget; they don’t have to pay employees to sweep the parking lot several times a day to fetch abandoned carts from the furthest circles of parking lot Hell, but it has turned into something much more. It has turned into a moment of presence and generosity. It has turned into a moment of genuine human interaction.

It’s the Aldi quarter moment. Here’s an idea; maybe we can carry throughout our collective days that feeling from the cart exchange. That’d be nice, I think.

Remember, I'm rooting for you; rooting hard.

happiness
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About the Creator

David Louis Stanley

Educator.Poet.Author.Writer.Voice-for-Hire.

Husband.Father.Friend.

Thinker of thoughts who gets stuff done.

Melanoma Awareness Advocate.

Three books in print.

Never miss a chance to do good.

I write sonnets.

I’m bringing sonnets back.™

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