Over the last couple of weeks, I have been learning what it means to be an “empath”. I meet most of the descriptors, and, thankfully, I seem to be functioning as a fairly healthy empath. As I continue to read about the subject, I have noticed contradicting articles about how easy or hard it is to become and improve yourself as an empath. I think I know the perfect place for anyone to improve themselves as an empath. The Grocery Store.

There are very few places that function, day in and day out, as palpable and unique of a social experiment and/or experience as the grocery store, especially when it comes to privilege, expectation, and spatial recognition. It feels like a window into the soul, for an empath like me.

Let’s start in the parking lot. The speed in which someone is driving and the way someone parks their car are the first behaviors to recognize. Next is the number of shopping carts, purposefully, not put into their corrals.

On our way into the grocery store, notice how many people stop in the middle of the entranceway. Then, notice who took the time to put their cart in the general area where they are corralled inside.

Congratulations! You are actually inside of the grocery store now! Now, we need to acknowledge the layout of the grocery store. This does determine, to some extent, the behavior of those that are shopping. The next behavior to notice is that of spatial recognition. Who thinks their space is more important than yours? Who, among the shoppers, is even aware that there are other people in the store, with shopping carts, that also take up space? To quote Ra’s al Ghul, you must “mind your surroundings”.

Quite possibly the most interesting part of the process is checking out with your groceries. Most times, there is a line (like a literally line, for waiting), and here you get to see two or more people, who do not know each other, look each other in the eye, or purposefully avoid looking each other in the eye! This is a real test for humanity. Items rung up incorrectly, bagging practices, you name it. There is always an opportunity for error, and reactions in situations like this are micro to the macro.

Your journey is not over yet. You have to end where you began, observing carts left in impractical locations, noticing the drivers driving too fast, and those that park with seemingly line-blind disorders.

The point to all of this is that even in the most common and mundane places, like a grocery store, one still has to notice the creative interactions we have with one another. We have to be apparent of the ‘whole’ that other people are creating, while at the same time striving to improve the entirety of the situation, creating something new that is more than what was initially present. An allegory for society in general, for sure.

This is what The Central Line is all about, a common ground, a common bond, and a common outcome where all is bettered. Also, do not drive too fast in a grocery store parking lot. I will launch my shopping cart at your car as you drive by.