Let's talk about the breakdown of civil society — not at City Hall (though that too), but somewhere arguably more important to your daily life: Costco.

If you've set foot in a Bay Area Costco on a weekend anytime recently, you already know. The spatial awareness of your fellow shoppers has cratered to approximately zero. Carts parked diagonally across aisles like abandoned vehicles. Kids running free-range through the frozen section. Families of eight fanning out in a human blockade near the free samples. And the parking lot? A Hobbesian nightmare where people just stop their cars in front of the entrance to unload passengers like it's SFO arrivals.

None of this is technically new. Costco has always been a contact sport. But something shifted post-Covid, and the unwritten rules of shared public space — move to the side, don't block the aisle, corral your cart — seem to have evaporated entirely.

One Bay Area shopper put it perfectly: "I call them 'cart cloggers.' Plus they bring the whole extended family for free samples. I got an executive membership just for the early hours shopping benefit. Well worth it to avoid the circus." Another local recounted overhearing a mom at the SoMa Costco actually telling her kid, "We don't want to stop right here in the middle of the aisle, that blocks other people" — and said they nearly wept with joy. "Mother of the year. But apparently she's the only one with a brain."

Here's the thing: this isn't really about Costco. It's about a broader erosion of basic civic consideration that shows up everywhere — on Muni, on the sidewalks, in traffic. When people stop thinking about shared spaces as shared, everything degrades. And no amount of store signage or hired staff can substitute for adults simply being aware of other humans around them.

The libertarian in us doesn't want more rules. We want people to not need more rules. But when the social contract frays this badly, you end up with the worst possible outcome: an environment so chaotic that people either avoid it entirely or demand heavy-handed intervention.

So here's a radical proposal that costs taxpayers exactly zero dollars: next time you're at Costco, pull your cart to the side. Watch your kids. Don't stop in the fire lane. It's free, it's easy, and it's the bare minimum of functioning in a society.

The $1.50 hot dog combo deserves better than this.