If you blink you might just miss it - Cart Jacking

This pandemic has taught us many things. 

Many quarantiners (?), quarantites (?) chose to learn how to bake bread while simultaneously learning how to care for plants. 

 

Personally, I tried the plants thing and let’s just say if plants had a way to communicate in words they would be warning each other about my ability to murder just about anything. Then there were the select few who decided to learn how to knit. These folks dove head first into the world of luxury fiber as they learned about Magpie fibers, O-wool, and EKF (yes they are some of my faves). 

 

With this wave of baby knitters and let’s be honest with the stimi (for some) there was a giant demand for fiber. Updates popped up everywhere for many non-fiber small businesses as well, most notably stitch marker makers and pottery makers. And with each update, the extra time, and the depression/anxiety of many things that were happening around us we all joined in solidarity and flocked to purchase items that were hyped up on Instagram and that we felt would fill that void. 

 

Though some felt the rush of successfully purchasing their Joji & Co. Bag or that RBG mug we’ve all been lusting for, some were caught staring at the loading circle waiting for final confirmation only to be let down by the online shopping equivalent of “friend zoned,” the, “sorry out of stock” message. From the ashes of sadness and despair a term blossomed, “Cart Jacked.” 

 

Most of us can tell you exactly what we were doing the first time we got cart jacked. 

So what is cart jacking? Well it’s something you can do if you’re the one who has a faster trigger finger, internet connection, or if you know the secrets to checking out faster. Or it is something that can happen to you. Let’s explore THAT definition 

 

Cart Jacked: An unfortunate event when you load up your cart and check out but have potato speed internet that allows others to check out before you. Also occurs when you are greedy and try to load up the cart but miss out because others have purchased all of the items that you have in your cart. 

 

Now let’s explore how one can respond and later how one should respond --

 

 

There are many ways that one can react to a cart jacking: 

1. You can move on with your life because it’s just a fucking bag. 

2. You can move on with your life because it’s just a frickin’ bag. 

3. You can berate the maker for not mass producing. Also because you have potato slow internet which is not really their fault but you need to blame someone. 

 

 

1 & 2 are my personal favorites. 

3 is not. We see it during every update and for some reason folx never learn. It’s almost like they believe that the maker has a personal stash that they can send out to those who fell victims to a cart jacking. But these messages are often times so degrading and so vile that the makers have to stop themselves from reading their DMs. 

 

So before you turn into an irrational fiber vulture who berates makers, think twice. We are fortunate and privileged to have such beautiful art in our community. They all work hard, sometimes in a team but many times it’s a single dyer to provide us countless updates. But above all remember that there is a real person with feelings on the receiving end of your message. So next time you fall victim to a cart jacking just move on and support another artist.

 

And for now, enjoy my poem: 

 

Cart Jacked 

 

I’ve watched the clock, 

It’s right on time.

I’m all set up – 

To spend my dime. 

 

Pages load up, 

Logins prescreened,

Nothing can stop – 

This fiber fiend. 

 

I click and click, 

Load up my cart – 

It’s such a rush! 

Just ask my Heart. 

 

The seconds fly, 

I hit submit- 

I daydream of – 

the shit I’ll knit. 

 

I see the wheel, 

I gasp out loud – 

How could it be? 

I’d make bolt proud!?!?

 

Its 1 past drop- 

Now it is fact. 

I was too slow,

 I’ve been cart jacked.