'No problem,' carts are bugging people

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By Bill Wundram | Wednesday, August 13, 2008 12:07 AM CDT | () comments

During idling moments we have asked “What’s bugging you?” Well, lazy people who are careless with shopping carts is one gripe. But yup, a current big complaint is the reply of “No problem” to simple wishes.

“I’m upset when I make a simple request and the person responds, ‘No problem,’ says Lois Wagner, Moline. “If you ask for a simple something, too many individuals make a problem out of it. When they say ‘no problem,’ it makes it sound like it was a problem to begin with,”

“I use a cane and was a little slow getting on the elevator in the U.S. Bank building downtown in Davenport,” adds Duane Manning, Davenport. “A woman said ‘no problem’ in allowing me to go ahead of her. That should not have been a problem. She could have politely said nothing.”

Another Quad-Citizen, Suzanne Martinez, says, “The words ‘no problem’ are not a substitute for responding to what should be an expected deed. Since when did an easy request become a problem?”

Robin Fulton, Davenport, wonders, “What kind of envelope are they pushing when someone answers ‘no problem,’ when all you ask is for a seat near the window at a restaurant. What kind of problem is that? It makes it sound like you are asking them to move the table and chairs and put on a clean tablecloth. Why can’t people just say ‘all right’ or ‘happy to do it’ instead of making it sound like a big problem.”

Purely personal, I asked for help at the Bettendorf Public Library. The librarian obliged and said, “no problem.” It’s everywhere. “No problem” is in the mainstream of language.

Getting ‘carted’

Amy Chung, Bettendorf, has this thing about grocery store carts. “One windy day at Target, a cart that was left in an empty parking stall was blown across the way and got wedged between two cars,” she says. “When it was pulled out, the damage to the cars was akin to them having been keyed.

“Another time, someone left a cart in an empty handicap parking stall. That is just mean. In the past few weeks, I have collected four stray carts and put them in a rack. I do not have to do it. But I feel like I am doing someone else a favor — and their car.

“I do not know if it is fair to say that people who do not return their cart to the cart return are lazy, but what else could it be?”

‘Bugged’ by broken furniture trash

“This makes my blood boil ever time I see it — people who put out trash, mattresses, broken furniture and other large items on the curb and leave it there for weeks on end. For weeks, I have driven by one neighborhood in Moline to see no less than five mattresses and junk piled by the sidewalk. Two of them have been partially up a hill, so it looks like they were just kicked down the hill and didn’t make it to the sidewalk. Mattresses, etc. have been piled on Avenue of the Cities just east of Whitey’s. Is there no pride in neighborhoods or property?” asks Leslie Kight, Moline.

R-r-r-rushing the seasons

“It bugs me to see ‘end of season’ promotions,” says Bob “Buzz” Rekers, Pleasant Valley. “In mid-July, there were end-of-season signs in stores. Doesn’t summer last until the third week of September? Now, already we’re seeing Christmas displays before Halloween is even near. I get depressed enough, seeing how fast the summer months go by without having signs for ‘end of season’ so far before a new season begins.”

Bill Wundram can be contacted at (563) 383-2249 or bwundram@qctimes.com.