Our recent Backstage event, live at the legendary Ryman Auditorium here in Nashville, went well aside from one tense moment. During the audience Q&A portion, I was asked to identify the number one sign of our cultural decay. I did not hesitate in my response. The greatest indicator of our decay and collapse, I said, is that so many people fail to properly put their shopping carts away.
My colleagues on stage stared back at me in awkward silence. The audience laughed nervously. Apparently, they were all expecting a different answer. But they should have known better. In fact, I have been one of the leading activists on this issue for many years. It has been a lonely campaign. Most of the time I have felt like a voice in the wilderness, a forsaken prophet in sackcloth and ashes, crying unto the people, “Put away ye carts, O shoppers. Make straight our parking lots.”
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