Tony Dodero -- From the Newsroom

Shopping carts.

In their glory, they are proudly wheeled through the cereal, bread and

vegetable aisles, little children squealing with delight in their

saddles. They are symbols of our bounty, our ability to pick and choose

from a marketplace chock full of great things -- like hot dogs, plums,

pasta, Cheez-Its and graham crackers.

Mmmm.

Yet for many of us, their abandonment on our highways and byways are

daily reminders of the blight and poverty among us.

Out of their grocery store setting, shopping carts take on a beastly

image that many of us want to purge. “How and why does this happen and

how can we fix it?” we ask.

As my wife and I drive through our neighborhood, the sight of an

abandoned shopping cart results in both infuriating and comedic

responses. But really there is nothing funny in this.

Like those in Costa Mesa who are pressing city officials to stomp out

shopping cart blight, it galls me to see one or many tossed along

sidewalks and greenbelts. And I, like them, want the perpetrators

stopped. I want someone to come up with a solution.

You see, taking a shopping cart is wrong and clearly against the law,

a law that is often spelled out on the plastic handle of the carts.

Yet for the lowest on the economic rung of life, the four-wheeled,

wire-metal creature can be a savior from one more of life’s back-breaking

daily toils. It’s a vehicle to deliver goods to hungry families, where no

vehicle exists. The punishment, or lack thereof, for taking a cart hardly

plays into the equation.

Hence the predicament.

The answer from some is to castigate the largely Spanish-speaking

immigrants who take the carts. Kick them out or arrest them and the

problem goes away, they argue. But that is hardly realistic or even

humane.

There are creative and innovative ways to fix problems like these. I

don’t claim to have such powers, but I do have a few suggestions that

perhaps those in the know at Costa Mesa City Hall can pursue.

* Bilingual signs at shopping centers and on the carts, clearly

spelling out that removal is a crime punishable by law.

* Make the punishment fit the crime. A fine or community service. Jail

time is both laughable and harsh.

* Call on the clergy for help. Religious leaders are eager to bridge

cultural gaps and ease racial tensions. Here’s an issue they could tackle

that would do wonders. Jesse Miranda at Vanguard University would be a

good start.

* Urge or require shopping centers to install parking lot security to

stop cart theft.

* Grocers, perhaps in concert with the clergy, should offer

alternative pushcarts for their customers who don’t have cars. The

grocery markets need to be much better neighbors here.

* Equip those who live in neighborhoods that are besieged by shopping

carts with handy phone numbers, like the grocery store manager’s or to a

shopping cart retrieval company.

Whatever the solution is, I do believe that Costa Mesa can be a model

for other cities to follow. Let’s work hard on the matter now and restore

shopping carts to their more dignified image, get them off the streets

and lower my blood pressure and others at the same time.

***

Today, I begin a new journey into academia.

Some 15 unsuspecting co-eds at Orange Coast College will be getting a

wet-behind-the-ears journalism teacher today -- me. No, for those of you

who just cheered, I haven’t quit my day job here at the paper.

Actually, I’m just hoping I make it through the week, though I am very

excited about teaching this three-hour a week course in news reporting

and writing.

I just don’t want to dash any careers in the process or turn somebody

from becoming something respectable like a journalist to something

unthinkable like, gasp, an attorney or politician.

Which, of course, if you’re on the Newport Beach City Council, you’re

more than likely to be both.

Anyway, if any of my soon-to-be students read this, please bear with

me if I stumble along at first. If you stick it out, we’re going to have

a good time, and there is going to be a lot of learning going on.

Mostly by me.

TONY DODERO is the editor. His column appears on Mondays. If you have

story ideas or concerns about news coverage, please send messages either

via e-mail too7 [email protected] or by phone at

949-574-4258.