Many years ago while living in the woods about 20 miles from the nearest small town, where I did my shopping, I devised a simple scheme to confound the town locals. I was going to hire a bunch of men from outside the area to wear black tuxedos and top hats and wander around the town for about an hour and then leave. They would be instructed to stay out of the stores and to not engaged in conversation with anyone.
It would be talked about for decades, I would have created a local myth. Unfortunately the expected funds to bring this off never materialized, and it never happened.
Today in the news, there are shopping carts, most of them red, some black, with a large red X on them, filled with clear plastic bags containing something green and chained to trees and lamp posts with a strong chain and a very strong lock, all over the city of New York.
No one knows what they’re for or how they got there and apparently everyone is afraid to touch them. The police are notified but give no response.
I think someone with a great sense of humor (like mine) is creating an urban legend and I bet that shortly, all those shopping carts will disappear just as quietly and mysteriously as they appeared.