I happened upon a newspaper article in the Sunday, September 17th edition of the Daily Herald that I found very interesting. Written by Greg Bluestein of the Associated Press, it tells how a grocery store in Alpharetta, Georgia, has installed small television screens in some of their shopping carts so children can watch while their parents get the marketing done. I say, get some of those brought over here to Utah!
I don’t believe in letting my children turn into little zombies in front of the TV. But let’s be totally honest, shall we – aren’t there times when you need your children to be little zombies? I know I wouldn’t be able to get a thing done without a backup plan. I do choose their shows carefully, as we’ve discussed, but TV is definitely not a stranger in my home. If the kids want dinner, they’ve got to let me make it, and distraction is a wonderful thing when there’s a boiling pot on the stove.
The article states: “To parents, the TV Kart and its ‘Bob the Builder’ and ‘Barney’ videos allow a few precious moments while they check off their grocery lists. But to reluctant grocers, it could be nothing more than another expense with little payoff in the notoriously low-margin grocery business.”
I can see how a cart like that would be expensive, but I also know that I would grocery shop more if my children weren’t hanging off the cart like little monkeys. As it currently stands, my shopping time is limited as I ponder, what store display will get knocked over today if I take the kids? And then I end up not going at all.
Bring on the funky carts! I say, it will take enough of a strain off tired mommies and daddies that the carts will more than pay for themselves with increased sales. And if it’s a video/DVD player, and the parent can select which show their child watches rather than throwing any old show on there, more the better. Now I’m wondering if there’s a petition I could sign or something . . .
