I'm pretty fanatical about returning shopping carts to their

[kairos12]

corrals. Yesterday I was about 40 feet from the nearest corral when the wheels locked up. Must have detected I was crossing some magnetic barrier.

If you were watching, you would have laughed your ass off. I manhandled, wrestled, pulled, push the cart toward the corral. I'm sure, somewhere, people reviewing any security/parking lot conversation had their Mountain Dew spewing from their nose from laughing.

[EYESORE 9001]

1. I witnessed a potential calamity a couple of weeks ago

Last edited Tue Jul 19, 2022, 02:07 PM - Edit history (1)

I was in a large supermarket parking lot, putting my groceries in the car. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a cart full of groceries rolling downhill on a slight grade and accelerating. The woman was oblivious to the runaway cart, so I yelled, but I was a good 700 ft away and she didn’t hear me the first time. When she heard me, she turned and gave chase, but it was hopeless by then. The cart made it to the exit and sped unhindered onto the street, continuing on to the far side of the four-lane boulevard. The cart hit the curb going at least 10 mph and groceries flew out of the cart and onto the sidewalk. I don’t know how it avoided getting hit by a car while crossing four lanes of traffic.

I realize this is only peripherally related to the OP, but it’s still fresh in my mind. I do share the OP’s disdain for careless people who abandon carts in bad locations.

[Demovictory9]

14. Omg 😳😳😳😳

[Baggies]

2. I hate when that happens

[sprinkleeninow]

3. I bring in carts from the parking lot others leave scattered. Then ask the store for a discount on

my grocery order. 😆

One time almost took on a 'lady' who left her cart against a pole and I said out my opened window, "Don't leave it there!" She's going, "People appreciate..." It started to roll away and would've smacked a nice sedan. I go, "Look! Look!" She grabbed it, and then instead of bringing it inside the store 4 feet away, she leaves it on the freaking sidewalk. I gave her the stink eye as she came back to her car. I could've taken her on. 😝 Well I sorta did with words of reprimand. This behavior steams my butt.

[wyn borkins]

5. Leave Those Errant Grocery Carts For Store Cart Attendants

Cart-Corral(ingly), I appreciate your enthusiasm kind sprinkleeninow, but please remember (each time 'that' thought conjures itself) there are many 'crazies' out-there and among-us that would do you harm even for a decent request or suggestion to do the right thing (as in, return the durn cart to it's origin).

Where would I get my sleepy-time music if you were strapped inside a grocery cart and hidden underneath an overpass?

[sprinkleeninow]

7. I only take in one if it's parked near my car. Then use it. I don't go around all over. 😆

$40k plus for new ride I'd like to keep in happy condition.

[wyn borkins]

9. Understood (n/t))

[sprinkleeninow]

8. I dint specifically note the incident where the older woman left her cart that started rolling was

directly in front of MY vehicle as I was parked waiting for a pick up order. Otherwise I wouldn't have seen it. I couldn't have allowed the cart to roll into another shopper's vehicle. As I would've wanted someone to do the same proper act.

[wyn borkins]

10. Yes (You Are A Good & Kind Person) (n/t)

[Demovictory9]

15. My 99 cent store has given up..has 3 carts left..everybody asks "where are the carts"

I see them around the neighborhood..wheels dont lock and they didnt round them up

[vanlassie]

4. In the UK and perhaps elsewhere, the carts require you to insert a coin.

Pushing the coin in (a pound in England) releases a short chain detaching the cart from the rest. Once the cart is returned, Relinking the chain pushes the coin back to you.
Here in my California town, we got our first Aldi store. It’s a German chain. Well, the carts needed a quarter to release! You would have thought it required a PhD! For months people talked about how “you have to pay to use the carts!”

But, there is a side story. There are people who make a habit of looking for a new arrival in the lot, and offering them their cart (which still has the quarter riding in it) and then the other person usually offers a quarter. Most people decline the offered quarter. Just a little bit of parking lot kindness, and both parties feel better for the effort.

[lastlib]

11. Our Aldi's stores do that.

If I see someone coming in when I'm done with a cart, I frequently offer it to them--if I got it on the free, I don't take payment for it.

[vanlassie]

12. I don't take payment either way. Just a tiny thing...

[Jirel]

6. I am too, but I draw the line at the ones that privileged people have locked up.

We have a fancily-rebuilt grocery store nearby that now has the parking lot wired to lock up carts past a certain point. I normally try to pick up one or two abandoned carts as I go in, as possible, since most got abandoned inside the lot at first after they opened. The other day, I tried and gave up. This store is in an area with lots of privileged folks, and they do not care what problems they cause by taking carts too far out. Their favorite trick this summer is to avoid the parking lot in favor of parking on the street, then pull up just into the edge of the parking lot (further snarling traffic) and have a friend/family member unload the cart there, and abandon the cart. (To be fair, something about the lot's layout is just dysfunctional, so the wise move is to park on the street in the shade, AND CARRY YOUR DANG GROCERIES OUT.) It just so happens that about 15 feet from the street is the edge of the magical lockup line. It got so bad the other day, that when I parked on the street and walked into the parking lot, the last Cadillac Escalade that broke the camel's back was pulling that favorite move and disabled the entrance. Y'all, after they pulled out, basically the entire entrance on that side was too clogged with randomly abandoned and locked up carts for anyone else to try to get through. There were eight abandoned right in the lane. It was about 100 degrees out, so I wasn't going to kill myself getting locked-up carts to the return, but I at least broke a hell of a sweat to pull them out of the entrance lane so people could simply use it. Rather than helping clear the way, people just looked at me like I was nuts. Seriously, is it not just common sense to not cause this problem in the first place, but can't people help with getting just ONE cart out of the way so others can drive through?

[vanlassie]

13. OMG. That sounds like a design FAIL!