Where to park my shopping trolley?

I was shopping at Tesco (Guildford) yesterday. At the car park, I saw a lady leaving her trolley to a corner. At first, I was not paying much attention as that is what we, as shoppers, do after finishing our shopping. We empty our trolleys and leave our trolley at designated trolley bays. Then, I got curious because the corner where the lady decided to 'park' her trolley is a not a designated trolley bay. Instead, it is the corner that some patrons have randomly chosen to 'park' their trolleys after finishing their shopping trips. The corner happens to be a 'busy' corner which automobiles must take in order to exit Tesco.

This trolley incident makes me think about people's learning behaviours. This lady, obviously, has observed other Tesco patrons parked their trolleys at the corner and, thus, she decided to follow suit. But, has she wondered or questioned if it was 'appropriate' to do so? Stated differently, was it logical to leave a trolley at the car park's corner which cars must take to exit a supermarket? After all, the corner is not a designated trolley bay. By leaving trolleys at this corner, it can seriously hinder automobiles exiting Tesco. More seriously, some automobiles may hit the trolleys 'being parked' at this corner and, subsequently, damage their automobiles. If it did happen, did the patron(s) involved have any right to claim compensation from Tesco?

Many psychology theories have talked about people learn by observing others such as children learning from their parents and/or siblings. But, I am also surprised to see that we, as adults who are supposed to be more cognitively mature than children, are also easily influenced by others' behaviours. We, as adults, seem to follow the behaviours of other people and, sometimes, without questioning if the behaviours are 'appropriate' under certain circumstances. Have you ever done something because others do it?

The lady who I mentioned in this blog, next time, please park your trolley at the designated trolley bay! You should question if a behaviour is 'appropriate' under a circumstance and avoid the 'other people do it' mentality!