Anyone else who won't bring a shopping cart from a store parking lot back into the store?

[NNN0LHI]

I see people doing this all the time when I go shopping like they are going to save the world by bringing a cart back into the store or the store is going to give them a discount for doing it. I notice they tend to puff up their chests like they are part owner of the store or something.

They never think about the guy who's job it is to bring the carts back into the store. He needs that job or he wouldn't be doing it. I keep wanting to ask these people how would they like it if someone came to where they work and and did their job for free?

Don

[taterguy]

1. I bag my own groceries

Screw the working man

[greguganus]

3. Next time I'm at the store, I'm gonna ask them if I can mop the aisles. n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

112. Tee hee n/t

[jmowreader]

172. I HAVE to bag my own groceries!

Every Fucking Time I go to the store, the bagger on my cashier's lane decides he has to go on break right now, so I gotta bag the shit myself.

[greguganus]

2. The guy will continue to have a job unless the customers start bagging, mopping, stocking, etc. n/t

[NNN0LHI]

7. No they already have people doing the bagging, mopping, stocking

Bringing in carts seems to be a full time job for these guys where I go.

Don

[greguganus]

8. Not at the chain I shop at. They have to do it all. n/t

[ChazII]

169. My son works in a grocery store.

He is now in the bakery dept. but when he was a courteous clerk, he not only bagged and mopped but retrieved the carts as well.

[pipi_k]

75. I'm planning on going in the back to grind my own hamburger

After that, it's a trip to the beauty parlor where I'll wash, cut, and style my own hair.

Then give myself a huge tip.

[Quantess]

215. As if they don't have enough work to do already.

It all depends on which store you are referring to, of course. Some stores hire an adequate amount of workers, and some stores are intentionally understaffed. The current trend is to stretch employees thin and overload each of them with more work than they can realistically accomplish.

Of course, there are some stores that have bored workers. I'm sure you are their favorite regular customer.

[stray cat]

4. I hope you put it in a cart spot and don't leave it lying around the parking lot

becoming a traffic hazard and banging into cars

[murray hill farm]

36. My first thought, as well.

Those carts left standing in the parking lot can do a lot of damage to the cars parked in the lot.

[chaplainM]

56. I leave mine in those wide blue collection lanes.

You know, the ones that depict a man sitting in a shopping cart.

[RaleighNCDUer]

63. LOL

[Robb]

88. Ha!

You win! :rofl:

[KitchenWitch]

153. So YOU are the culprit!

I hate you!

:P

[Regret My New Name]

199. :) hahha

[L0oniX]

238. Why do you hate the homeless?

[Bucky]

5. I run thru the streets of Gotham at night beating up bad guys. Now I see I'm taking jobs from cops

I also feel bad about busting Ann Coulter in the chops now, although technically I did help create jobs for her healthcare providers.

[greguganus]

11. I want the job of busting people for pulling those mattress tags off. n/t

[bulloney]

49. I want to be the guy who pounds saltine crackers at Wendy's.

Every time you order chilli there, they give you a couple of packets of crackers and they're never intact. They're powder. I figure they must have a person on staff whose job it is to pound every packet of crackers into powder.

I figure this is a great job to have because you can take your stress out on the crackers. You come home calm because you've vented your frustrations at work. Your family will be happy for it, too.

[pipi_k]

102. I hate to disappoint you, but

cracker-pounding is outsourced, just like all the rest of the skilled jobs.


I blame Bush....

:mad:

[pipi_k]

76. OK I confess

I did take a mattress tag off one time...it was from a Barbie doll bed, and I was 11 years old.

Come and get me...

:scared:

[Candie Date]

201. Don't worry

They only send these guys.

[bklyncowgirl]

202. Boycott Batman--he's a scab! nt

[peace13]

6. Happy Thanksgiving to you!

I bring a cart in when I see it. Cars are too expensive to have empty carts bashing into them. My guess is that if the carts are all over the lot that there is no magic 'guy' to round them up.

[NNN0LHI]

9. There won't be no guy bringing them in if someone keeps bringing them in for the corporation

Thats my point.

And happy thanksgiving to you.

Don

[RaleighNCDUer]

66. I don't bring it in for the corporatioin - I bring it in for myself.

With my back it's good to have something to lean on for the half-mile walk to the store from the parking lot.

[Bluenorthwest]

101. Hey me too!

I love that cart! I'm lucky in that I get to park pretty close where I live these days most of the time, but from car to car, the cart is my friend!

[Vanje]

204. If empty carts dont dent up those parked cars......

You're putting American Workers at all those auto body shops out of work!

[OregonBlue]

10. I do it all the time and I don't "puff up my chest". Often when the store is busy I go inside only

to discover there are no carts available. I have to go back outside and find one. It's easier to just grab one in the parking lot. It's been my experience that when the weather is bad, the boxers don't especially love having to go outside and round up carts. I'm not taking anyone's job, just making sure I have a cart.Guess it depends on how busy your grocery store it. Mine is often really busy.

[greguganus]

12. We should alert the USCDU about this.

United Shopping Cart Drivers Union.

[michreject]

78. Wouldn't work

People would just start using Asian made shopping carts.

[ThomWV]

13. You ever try to park in a lot cluttered with cart some assholes have left out there?

Its a simple courtesy to others who need to use the parking lot to remove the cart you hauled out there.

[NNN0LHI]

23. I think you may be confused here?

I never said anything about cluttering up any parking lot. Did you hallucinate that?

I put the cart I use in the cart corral where it belongs.

Don

[Dorian Gray]

34. In the suburbs there are plenty of cart corrals

in the cities, you either bring them back to the front of the store (as parking is limited) or you leave it hanging out in the parking lot, obstructing traffic.

The people who bring the carts back to the store there are the same people who do all the other menial tasks in the store. There is no cart police.

[H2O Man]

183. Most of the Cart Police

are undercover. They have more disguises than Frank Serpico. Make mighty darned sure that your carts are parked correctly, or you will get a ticket. Use your seat belt, too.

[Fla Dem]

220. If the store is closer than the cart corral, I'll take it back to the store.

I get irritated at the lazy slobs who leave them where they unload them.

[frogcycle]

14. so you're saying I should throw gum in urinals to give people jobs?

All this time I've been critical of people who do that, thinking "geez, SOMEBODY has to pick that out."

Oh, and I'll start throwing trash on the highways - give the prisoners something to do.

[greguganus]

16. Keep America Working! n/t

[ThomWV]

17. If you piss on people's feet it might revive the Shoe-shine Industry too

I agree with your sentiment.

[NNN0LHI]

26. Where did you get that from my post friend?

Urinal fetish maybe?

Don

[dynasaw]

15. Plain Laziness

Leaving carts in parking lots rather than either walking them back to the store or areas designated for carts is another manifestation of the laziness I see among people who litter: leaving coffee cups, soda cans, fast food containers wherever. The mentality is "someone" will clean up or pick up after them. Seems to permeate all levels of life these days--make a mess, walk away. "Someone" will fix things. No wonder this country has gone down the tubes.

[Kali]

99. eh, sometimes if I have just dropped a couple hundred bucks on a cart of groceries

I don't feel much guilt leaving the cart parked on the curb. (presuming there isn't a cart corral near by) Mind you I don't just leave it where the wind will start it rolling towards other cars.

[Sugar Smack]

117. You...you insufferable chest-puffer! You cart-fetching world-saver!!

:rofl:

[RobinA]

124. I'm A Chest Puffer Too

But I make up for it, because I go in the store, fill up a whole cart of groceries, and then leave it where the store personnel will have to reshelve everything. Just in the interest of full employment. And it's always good to litter, because someone will have to pick it up. On my road, which is kind of rural, people throw all kind of beer bottles, empty cigarette packs and McDonalds take out trash out the window as they whizz by. I never clean up along my property, because I figure eventually the township will hire someone to do it.

[Why Syzygy]

18. Do you puff your chest when you leave your cart out? nt

[greguganus]

20. ...

:toast:

[conscious evolution]

19. I don't

As far as I am concerned,the grocery stores can afford to pay people to do it like they did when I was a bagboy thirty years ago.
It's called good customer service.

[cosmik debris]

21. Make Jobs, Not profits.

I like to create work for workers who might get their hours cut if there is not enough to do.

I think it is patriotic.

[doc03]

22. If there is a cart near my car I bring it in

because if I don't I will find someone else pushed it against my car when I come back out. Another reason many times especially at Walmart there are no carts inside the store so I bring my own. I am also one of those people that puts the cart in the cart island after I am done. What really pisses me off is whenever you go to check out they have 30 checkout registers and only 1 or 2 operating many times I just leave my cart full and leave the store. If everyone did that they would open more registers, just think they have to pay an employee to restock everything.

[Lex]

24. In order to ensure their job security, I roll many carts at once to the parking lot & leave them.

It's the least I can do. I puff my chest out when I do that too.

[Buzz Clik]

39. Outstanding! And an excellent plan. I think I'll start intentionally spilling stuff in the store...

... to ensure job security for the Cleanup on Aisle 6 guy.

[RobinA]

128. This is Doubly a Good Act

Because if clean-up guy is busy and some senior citizen comes along and slips and cracks his/her head open, they can sue the store and ensure a comfortable retirement with the settlement.

[blondeatlast]

218. Not to mention keeping lots of idle DU hands busy bitching about the ridiculously

large settlement/astonishingly woefully small compensation given said senior citizen.

[trof]

25. It's Miz t.'s 'ultraviolet theory'.

She's read that shopping cart handles are notoriously germ laden.
Her theory is that a cart that's been sitting in the sun for a while would be more germ free.
So she always picks one from the parking lot.
;-)

[BrotherBuzz]

162. Miz t.'s theory has merit, plus....

The odds are in my favor that the cart in the lot functions as advertised. My experience has shown me that all the rejects, the hanger queens, are still inside the market stuck together in a long line. I'll bet dimes to donuts, everyone of those looser carts has at least one square wheel.

[trof]

216. 'hanger queens' I like that.

:rofl:

[LittleApple81]

27. In Europe people have solved two problems: cart 1€ to release refunded when cart returned, plastic

bags cost .10€ per, so you bring your own. You pack your own groceries. The lost jobs are compensated by better customer service inside the stores and fewer plastic bags hanging from trees and killing wildlife.

[Danger Mouse]

134. A lot of stores do that in our country too.

And people still need to go out and fetch carts and bring them into the store.

[FloridaJudy]

156. My local health food store

Gives you a discount if you bring your own bags. Jeez, maybe I should be worried about all those plastic bag manufacturing jobs that are being lost? And if I quit smoking, won't all those tobacco farmers go broke, not to mention all those respiratory therapists who'll soon be out of a job if too many of us quit smoking...:sarcasm:

[Name removed]

28. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MadHound]

29. I suppose you get bent out of shape about somebody who picks up litter from the sidewalk too

After all, doing so somehow deprives the street sweeper of work:eyes: Sorry, but you're really getting out there friend.

I bring shopping carts back inside at some places, those that don't have those exterior cart corrals. I feel that it is only common courtesy, and a safety issue since leaving a cart hanging out on the parking lot is a traffic hazard.

Get a fucking life.

[pampango]

43. I agree. I suppose holding doors open for people affects the employment of doormen.

Mowing the yard of my retired neighbor affects the employment of paid landscaping workers, as does my shoveling their snow in the winter. Volunteering to help at my son's school, back in the day, may have affected the employment of aides (though I don't think the system had the funding).

The OP argues against common courtesy as a means of generating employment. Can't agree with that.

[TheCowsCameHome]

30. I do it to keep my car from having a nearby cart mashed up against it.

But I won't scour the lot to bring one inside.

[Dorian Gray]

31. At my supermarket

it's the polite thing to do. The people don't have a JOB that is to bring those back. That's ridiculous. Either put them back in the marked places in the parking lot or bring them back to the store. They should not be left blocking parking spots. To do so it rude and lazy.

JMO.

[Tutankhamun]

32. I used to bring all the carts in at night when I was a teenager wsorking at Target.

Once the store closed and I was done cashiering I was given the job nobody wanted -- pushing carts. Nobody else ever did that crappy job. They always made me do it, even though they assured me that I would not have to when they hired me.

It was a pain in the ass. NOBODY ever actually wanted to do it. I quit that job out of resentment after a few months and I didn't give notice. I just stopped going in order to hopefully force one of the managers to push carts himself/herself.

I went back in a couple of weeks later to get my paycheck, and my manager said, "You'll never work at target again!"

I told him that was the whole idea.

[Buzz Clik]

42. Yeah, my kid is on the Wendy's Black List for similar behavior.

They figure that if they're paying you shit then they should treat you like shit, too.

It's a great strategy for ensuring the happiness of your employees.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

163. When I worked at Wendy's back in the '80s.

For $3.35 an hour mind you, because that asshole Reagan refused to raise the minimum wage, we employees found all kinds of ways to take our resentment out on our managers and the customers. We gave free food away to our friends and did all kinds of gross things to the food of rude patrons.

Looks like these companies still don't get it. McDonald's got in trouble a few years back for cheating young employees out of pay. At some restaurants, they would make them clock out and go to a break room until customers came in. Then they would clock back in to take orders. It ended up where teenagers were paid for something like 3 hours out of a 6 hour shift.

[JI7]

46. so there are no jobs specifically just for bringing carts inside ?

the OP makes it seem as if they hire people just for that alone. but i always assumed these people do other work also.

[Danger Mouse]

135. The OP is an idiot.

[Vinca]

33. Hmmm - I take my cart back so the elderly man trying to make

a few extra bucks working at the grocery store will only have to push 4 instead of 5.

[NNN0LHI]

38. Well hopefully someone will come over to your workplace to do your job for free

Just to make your job a little easier and help you out a bit.

Wouldn't that be great?

Don

[Vinca]

47. When I'm an elderly lady I will appreciate that. nt

[NNN0LHI]

48. Elderly and out of a job you needed to survive would be great wouldn't it?

Yea I see your point.

Don

[DoctorMyEyes]

53. Dude, you've stepped in it

Face it and get on with your life. Your attitude has been almost universally condemned on this thread and yet you're still arguing your lame case.

[RobinA]

175. Actually,

We keep wishing that families would come get their seriously mentally ill members and take care of them at home, but they seem to think it's too much for them.

[Buzz Clik]

35. Dude, don't be so friggin' paranoid. It's okay if you're too damned lazy to return the cart.

I just hope you're not one of those assholes who simply abandons the cart to let it block a parking space or eventually roll off and damage another patron's car.

Yeah, if there's no cart parking facility in the parking lot, then I return the cart to the store.

[Dorian Gray]

44. Exactly

If he's lazy, that's great. Returning a cart to the designated spot is the nice thing to do. If there is one in the parking lot, great. If not, in front of the store with the other carts is the right thing to do. To get outraged at people who aren't lazy enough to leave their carts in the parking lot (not the designated spots) is ridiculous. And I haven't seen anyone being fired from my "selfish" act of returning the carts to their designated spot. YET. :eyes:

[golddigger]

37. Oh, for fucks sake!

:eyes:

[Atman]

40. A couple of years ago, a guy actually harassed me for leaving my cart in the lot

As I rolled the cart out of the way -- not just left in the middle of an adjacent parking space (bad form!) -- a guy getting out of his car looks at me and says "that's why groceries cost so much...they have to pay people to drag your cart back into the store."

I literally laughed at him. "Well, you're welcome to take it back into the store with you. Be sure to stop by the customer service desk and ask for my 1/16th-cent discount. You can keep it."

.

[drm604]

41. If there's a corral I put it there.

If the store is closer or there are no corrals, I take it to the store.

No chest puffing. Carts left in the lot can roll around and dent cars. But I guess I should allow that in order to create auto repair jobs.

[bulloney]

45. I'd rather see customers bring carts to the store than leave 'em in parking spaces & bang into cars.

[pipi_k]

81. Why do you hate auto body repair men?

Don't you realize they have families they have to support?

:P

[Enrique]

50. if there's more work, they won't hire more people

they'll just squeeze the people they have to do more in the same time, for the same pay.

[DoctorMyEyes]

54. Spoken like someone who's actually held a job!

and represents the reality based community.

[NNN0LHI]

68. If that were true there would only be one person working at every store

The owner would just have him/her work harder.

Don

[Enrique]

i'm talking about practical reality

marginal things like what you're talking about, which imo just make the person's job harder.

I do know exactly what you're talking about, however. I struggle with it on a daily basis, developing software which increases the efficiency of clerical workers. Does it put clerical workers out of a job? Or free them from drudge work and allow them to do more creative work?

[mdmc]

51. I bring my cart back to ALDI, otherwise I let it sit

The stores charge tons of cash for this shit. They can pay minimum wage to get their carts back...

[L0oniX]

237. I had someone try to take my cart at ALDI ...next thing you know people will be stealing...

ALDI carts to get the quarters.

:evilgrin:

[bobd0]

52. I leave my shopping cart behind cars with McCain/Palin bumper stickers.

Or any other form or Republican regalia. :)

[mwb970]

55. This is a kind of strange objection, is it not?

My store provides a cart-return area in the middle of the parking lot, and I always take mine there when I'm done. Is that OK? I do see some people pick up a cart that's been left far from the return area on their way into the store and use that cart as they shop, but I guess that's out too.

Believe me, I more than understand your concern for the workers at the grocery store! But a better target for your ire would be the "self-checkout" machines that they are using to replace cashiers. To me, this is a much more direct assault on jobs than customers cleaning up the parking lot. I won't use the things.

[NNN0LHI]

57. No it is just as important as the "self-checkout" machines that you and I both object to

The only difference is perspective.

Think about it.

Don

[Dorian Gray]

113. I've thought about it

I think you're wrong.

[unapatriciated]

219. Your wrong about that...

In most grocery stores cart-runs are everyones job, they don't hire someone just for that, I might add it is the least favorite job in the industry.
They usually spread the task out to everyone throughout the day on the daily log. I'm speaking from many years in the grocery industry not big box stores.
I did work at one store where the management did hire a person for that job only, it was part of a community outreach program for the disabled. He got the same hours every week no matter how many cart were returned by customers.
Customers bringing back carts does not affect the many hours needed to write orders, stock shelfs or the multitude of tasks grocery clerks do (we don't just ring you up, bag your groceries and collect carts).

Self-checkouts were specifically designed to eliminate jobs and are indeed much more important.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

239. Bar code scanners, too!

When prices had to be manually entered, it created more work for more checkers. Since they were more busy, baggers were also employed. Without computerized inventory databases managed by computers, more clerks were employed managing inventory, as well.

What you've touched on is the ever-present dynamic between mechanization and labor.

For my part, I'll stop being responsible with my grocery cart when the kid who wrangles 'em asks me to stop, instead of saying "Gee, thanks, Mister. What a day . . . " while shoving a massive train of unwieldy carts.

Sadly, this is all reminiscent of the right-wing meme of the union shop where one person unscrews lightbulbs and another screws lightbulbs in because "the union makes 'em do it that way" and thus drives down productivity while driving up "costs." We're seeing a lot of this right now in the vicious attacks on the UAW, as well as the quickly gathering attack on the Employee Free Choice Act.

[Gormy Cuss]

106. Shopping cart corrals eliminated jobs.

Baggers used to be expected to take the carts out to the customer's cart and load the trunk unless the customer preferred to do it for himself or herself, and the baggers in the lot retrieved carts before returning to the store. There were a lot more baggers - two to a checkout stand wasn't uncommon. Now many stores have one bagger for every other checkout. Jobs were lost. Baggers tended to be teens working a first job.

[unapatriciated]

217. yes, I hate the self checkouts...

I will stand in line before I will use one. Cart-runs as they are called are usually not just one persons job but everyones job. It can be a pain when you are assigned a cart run in your free hour from checking and you have an order to write plus a section to stock. I always appreciate my customers bringing their carts back it frees up my time to get other things done.

[unapatriciated]

58. I appreciate when my customers bring the carts back...

It allows me to concentrate on the endless tasks inside the store(never a shortage of something to do) and it lowers the liability of carts damaging cars when the carts are properly corralled

[Mister Ed]

59. Loose carts in the lot take up parking spaces and dent cars

I don't puff up my chest. I'm not under the impression I'm saving the world or that I'm part owner of the store. I just push the damn cart. I do it because it seems the courteous and sociable thing to do.

This is the dumbest thread I've seen on DU for awhile, and I'm doubly dumb to be typing a response to it.

[Generator]

184. You sir have been accused of chest plumping

Confess! :rofl: B-) :smoke:

[City of Mills]

60. I used to be a cart fetcher for Walmart

That was one of a few of my duties as a stockman. No one's going to lose their job if all the carts are returned to the front of the store. That just gave me more time to clean up the dropped glass jars, vomit, and discarded diapers left around the store. I also filled the soda machines, stocked merchandise, and wheeled particle board furniture to people's cars and helped them load it or tied it to their roof. Also trash detail and the occasional shoplifter intervention. No one just fetches carts!

[Hubert Flottz]

61. I'll draw the line when they tell me...

"Clean-up in aisle 13!" :puke:

[PeaceNikki]

62. Wow. This is one of the weirdest threads on DU ever.

And that is saying a lot.

[Patsy Stone]

64. We're really reaching

for wedge issues these days. :)

[fishwax]

65. I'll bring a cart in on my way if there's a loose one in the parking lot

Because it's a hazard to shoppers, drivers, and cars. I've seen other people do the same. Their chests have never struck me as particularly puffed, and I doubt they've cost anybody their job.

[FedUpWithIt All]

67. I always return them to the collection spots so they do not dmage cars. n/t

[NNN0LHI]

69. I do the same. I just don't do corporations work for free and bring them inside the store

[PeaceNikki]

70. What if it's a mom n pop store?

Why are you shopping at the big-box retailers at all? Hmmmmmmmmmm???!??

[NNN0LHI]

72. There are no mom n pop stores anywhere around here

Haven't been any for decades.

Mom n pop both shop at the same places I do.

Don

[PeaceNikki]

77. You also understand that "cart-taker-inner" is not a job in and of itself, right?

That duty is delegated to someone responsible for other stuff, too. So if 10% of the people are courteous and bring them in, it won't be putting jobs at risk.

[NNN0LHI]

83. Then why don't all the stores have just have one employee at each store?

And just delegate all the duties to that one employee?

Don

[PeaceNikki]

87. That's the most ridiculous argument ever.

Most jobs include multiple responsibilities. But I suspect you realize that and are just being thick.

[FedUpWithIt All]

136. I understand what you are saying.

:hi:

[madokie]

71. I do that even though walking is a pain for me

Walking is something I can't take for granted anymore.

[JI7]

73. it seems all the people who had a job that includes bringing the cart in disagrees with OP

is there anyone who had this job and agrees with him ? i would like to hear their side and see if it is true that they might lose their job.

[NNN0LHI]

79. Here's one

I used to bring carts in for Jewel over 30 years ago when I was 17 years old and I didn't appreciate when someone did my job for free.

Don

[JI7]

84. what's Jewel ? maybe things changed since 30 years ago

these people who have replied in this thread are saying they have other jobs in addition to bringing the carts in. that there is always something to do and they would prefer to do the other stuff than bring in the carts.

[NNN0LHI]

86. Jewel food stores. It was right behind my house where I grew up. Its still there

http://www.jewelosco.com/eCommerceWeb/LandingPageAction.do?action=begin

[ekelly]

115. Ahhhh....Jewel food stores...

Brings back memories. I grew up in Park Ridge, IL. North suburb of Chicago.
Is Jewel still in business?

[ima_sinnic]

173. 30 years ago and you're still not over it? sounds like you have "issues"

& need professional help.

Any other teenager would be happy to see his workload lightened.

[DoctorMyEyes]

195. And you waited 2 hours?

And you waited 2 hours into your own thread to mention your own personal experience? Curious...

[Danger Mouse]

97. Uh no. I had other responsibilites besides cart fetching when I used to work retail.

And when it's pouring rain, believe me, one less cart to fetch is a blessing.

[RobinA]

177. I Worked Retail Too

Not in a grocery store, but there was plenty of work to go around. A few less duties would have been greatly appreciated by workers and customers alike, as we would have had time to actually...take care of customers. Had everybody brought the clothes they didn't buy out of the dressing rooms, customers might have found us behind the counter instead of lugging tons of clothing that had been tossed on the floor out of the dressing room.

[notadmblnd]

74. I don't and the reason I don't is because

my grocery store employees.. (oh, I don't know the politically correct word people are using for these people today) the mentally challenged.

[NNN0LHI]

80. That is the same case at several of the stores I go to

Menards and Lowes both hire the people no one else would hire to do these jobs.

If they didn't have these jobs they wouldn't have any job.

Don

[unapatriciated]

226. as i stated up-thread...

employees who were hired through community outreach programs usually had guaranteed hours. Customers bringing back carts did not affect their hours. There were other duties that they could be assigned to if a cart-run was not needed at a particular time. I repeat my experience is within the grocery industry not big box stores.

Now self checkouts are a whole different animal, designed specifically to eliminate jobs.

[mudesi]

82. If I had that job, I'd say THANK YOU! (nm)

[hlthe2b]

85. You know, they might be doing it only to snag a parking space...

I've done that while waiting for a space--told the person loading their car, whose space I wanted that I would return the cart. Full parking lots get log-jammed when people try to return carts, even to parking lot storage areas.

[TheCowsCameHome]

89. OK, here's a compromise. I'll bring a cart in and then go plug their toilets

That way, there's no net job loss, and I get to pick a nice shiny cart with round wheels. :hurts:

[donco6]

90. You gotta be kidding.

I do it occasionally, but not to puff up my chest. I just need a cart, there's one right there, and sometimes there aren't any inside. Big effing deal.

[Blue Diadem]

91. We'll take one in if there isn't a cart coral close by.

After we park and are headed toward the store, if there is a cart by our car or on the way into the store, not in a coral, we'll grab it and take it inside with us.

It's not like someone is going to lose their job over what few people take a cart inside with them. Chances are, the person retrieving carts for the store is very busy and it's a few less carts he/she either has to push by hand or use that automated thingy to push.

[matcom]

92. I push mine across the parking lot and out into the street

I usually look for the busiest intersection. That way the little fuck who has to go out to get it to save his job really has to EARN it.

It also teaches him dexterity so I figure I'm really doing him a favor.

[PeaceNikki]

94. Wow. THAT's commitment to the American worker!

:patriot:

Do you puff your chest out when you do it?

[petronius]

107. If you really want to help the worker, you would jam the cart up in a tree or

in a drain pipe or something. That way, the effort of extracting it would provide both physical and mental exercise. I'm lazy, so I just put my cart in the bed of whatever pickup truck is closest...

[Midlodemocrat]

114. Pfft. I tie mine to the bumper of my car and roll it home with me.

You should see the little idiot trying to chase me down. :bounce:

[crispini]

121. ROFL! nt

[H2O Man]

192. As long as

you leave a tip, that's okay.

[Balbus]

236. You, sir, are a patriot!

:patriot:

[azmouse]

93. Gee... now I feel bad for taking reusable canvas bags to the store.

Think of all the plastic bag people I'm putting out of work. :cry: I'm a terrible person.

[RetroLounge]

95. Apparently it's just you...

How's that puffy chest?

:eyes:

RL

[Danger Mouse]

96. I used to have to fetch carts as part of my job when I worked retail.

I appreciated people who did it themselves. Less work for me. Especially when it's pouring rain. Or snowing. Cause that sucks, to have to fetch carts in bad weather. It sucks a lot.

[NNN0LHI]

104. Why didn't you just stay home without pay on the inclement days then?

Let me guess? You needed the money?

Don

[Danger Mouse]

125. Of course. But my job was more than just fetching carts.

When I was outside fetching carts, it was keeping me away from the 12,000 other things I needed to be doing in the store. If it was raining heavily, then it would take me longer and be a lot less pleasant. Therefore, not returning a cart would not have ensured job security for me, it would've just saved me some time. Which I would've appreciated.

[TankLV]

98. Dumbest thread in a long time...who the fuck cares...

[pipi_k]

103. bah humbug

I think this thread is hilarious


:7

[crispini]

100. I like popcorn!

[CountAllVotes]

105. I always leave my cart neatly parked

in the disabled zone. It is a lifesaver for those that might need a cart that are parked in these spots. I always look for an empty disabled spot with a cart nearby.

:kick:

[Terran]

108. I work part-time as a grocery store checker, and believe me...

the baggers appreciate fewer carts to slug around. And no, nobody is in danger of losing their job just because a few people make nice. Happy Thanksgiving! :hi:

[flvegan]

109. Damn, but this thread is awesome.

Typical Thanksgiving dinner table conversation at the DU, where we'll fight about absolutely anything.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

111. Delightful, isn't it?

And it's even given me a few ideas for cart-guy job creation. Next time I go to the grocery store I'm going to gather up as many carts as I can and chain them to the light poles in the parking lot. And as I do it I'll puff out my chest until I look like an enormous fugu fish.

This thread is such fun!

[flvegan]

118. I want to help this new job market.

I think I'm going to dismantle my cart when I'm done with it and scatter the parts in the cart return.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

119. Brilliant!

[crispini]

123. .

:spray:

Teach me to drink a soda while reading DU. :hi:

[WhollyHeretic]

110. Not only will I not bring a shopping cart back but if I see someone doing so I'll roll

a shopping cart at them. This stops them from taking away someone's job and provides work for medical professionals after they get knocked down.

[Liberal_in_LA]

116. Do you re-hang, re-fold clothes at department stores?

Seems like a b*tch to have to constantly put clothing back.

[crispini]

127. I have been known to do that.

It was the absolute LEAST favorite part of my job as a retail clerk, and takes me a whopping 10 seconds to put something back on the rack.

[zorahopkins]

143. Some Folks Are TOO Important For That Sort Of Thing

OMG!

Don't you realize that, even though it only takes a whopping tne seconds (or less) to put something back on the rack, there are some people who are just TOO IMPORTANT to do such things.

It's likely that these folks, as children, had parents who kept telling them how important they were and how the ENTIRE UNIVERSE revolved around them.

They never had to clean up their rooms (That was Mommy and Daddy's job). They never had to help with mowing the lawn -- (the parents also did that).

As adults, these folks just think that they are way too important to do anything like returning clothes to a rack.

Besides, they would not want to put any sales clerk (whose job it is) out of work.

[zorahopkins]

120. Clean Up Your Own Mess

One of my basic rules of life is "Clean Up The Mess YOU Make".

If you remove a grocery cart from teh store, then take it back to the store yourself.

Now, if the store has a place in the parking lot where someone can drop off a cart, then I think it is OK to drop it off there.

BUT -- if there are no places in the parking lot, then leaving your cart then is a MAJOR inconvenience to others -- it blocks parking spaces or endangers other peoples' cars,

YOU make the mess -- YOU clean it up!

[NNN0LHI]

126. What about the people who bring one into the store from the parking lot when they arrive?

Is that a good idea?

Don

[zorahopkins]

131. Of Course It's A Good Idea

Well, of course that is a good idea.

There will always be people who are so self-absorbed or who think they are just too important to clean up their own messes.

And then there will always be good-hearted people who see grocery carts in parking lots left by the self-absorbed and the self-important.

Those good-hearted people will understand that they are doing a good thing for their neighbors by removing the carts from the parking lots, and returning them to the store.

(I also do understand that there are, in fact, some people -- mothers with children and elderly people with mobility issues come to mind -- who cannot return their carts to the store. THEY are NOT self-absorbed or self-important.)

[Obamanaut]

205. Yes. We started doing this while my wife was relearning to walk

after her motor scooter accident. She had a head injury (along with various broken bones) with the aftereffects similar to those seen following a stroke - memory loss, balance issue, speech and reading problems, mobility issues. So yes, for about a year when we went to shopping I'd grab a cart, she'd hold on with one hand and into the store we'd go.

So yes, sometimes it's a very good idea.

[mondo joe]

122. At my grocery there are cart stations in the parking lot. I walk my cart to the station,

as I think I ought to do.

[doc03]

129. Isn't the proper name for a shopping cart

a basskart? :hide: Edit: Excuse me that would be bascart.

[yardwork]

130. I'm so confused. I hate returning the cart but I always feel guilty if I don't return it.

I thought we weren't supposed to leave the carts hanging around in the parking lots. Here I thought I was doing a good deed to take the time and risk my life pushing the stupid cart back through the parking lot to one of those cart-parking areas or sometimes all the way to the front of the damn store when I couldn't see the cart-parking area through the rain and the wind and now I've learned that I'm being a jerk when I do that?

Sheesh. I'll just leave the damn thing blocking a parking spot next time or whizzing down the parking lot in the wind so it can bang into somebody's car door just as they're trying to get out.

[Danger Mouse]

132. You bastard! Some pimply-faced kid could've lost his JOB because of you!

[yardwork]

140. If I'd seen him I would have paid him to return the cart I swear to God.

[mondo joe]

133. I never do anything myself, recycle or refrain from any purchase no matter how whimsical

because of all the jobs I'm maintaining.

[yardwork]

141. This goes against everything I learned in Anarchy 101 I'm so confused!

If I never buy anything and support myself by dumpster diving I'm destroying the lives of other working class people?

What do I do?

[zorahopkins]

137. Do You Use An ATM?

Do you use an ATM?

[NNN0LHI]

138. I get cash from the bank. Never use an ATM

Why do you ask?

Don

[zorahopkins]

139. I Also Never Use an ATM

I also never use an ATM, because I know that it puts tellers out of work.

I also get all my checks in paper -- I refuse to authorize an Electronic Funds Transfers.

I also always go to a video store to get any videos -- I do not use Netflicks or cable on-demand. I don't want to be the cause of any worker in a video store losing his or her job.

I am in a bit of a quandry about something, though, and I hope you can help me.

Should I order take-out food to be delivered to my house, or should I go to the restaurant to eat?

If I go to the restaurant to eat, then the take-out drivers lose their jobs, but if I have take-out food delivered to me, then the servers in the restaurant lose their jobs.

Can you help me, and give me some advice about that?

Please?

[City of Mills]

194. Oh, so you're OK with putting ATMs out of work?

:shrug:






























:dilemma:

[Lifetimedem]

142. Depends

I too think about the guy who is making min wage to fetch the carts, but I also consider the weather..on a windy day that cart could roll around and dent a car

[drm604]

144. I think from now on I'll take the cart home with me

to create more jobs for the people who manufacture and ship carts.

[AlCzervik]

145. The baggers here get the carts from the parking lot. I return mine myself unless someone walking

pasts asks for it. I went to the market on Tuesday, i go out to my car and the woman parked next to me left the cart about an inch from my car, she wasn't elderly or handicapped.

[zorahopkins]

147. But I Bet She...

That lady in the car parked nest to you ..... I bet she thought she was VERY important, and just couldn't be bothered to take a cart back to the store.

[AlCzervik]

149. i told her "Don't worry, i'll return you cart along with mine, no,no, don't get up"

and she proceeded to flip the bird and then i blew her a kiss.

[nadinbrzezinski]

146. So you telling me that you leave the cart willy nilly in the parking lot?

I bring them to the nearest corral, if that is the store, so be it

[malaise]

148. I take my green bags with me but I allow

the young men to bag my groceries and take them to my car. Many of these kids need the money to continue their education and we give them decent tips.

[NNN0LHI]

164. I was shocked by this thread

I thought everyone would easily understand what you just said. This is common sense stuff here. I don't know what has changed in this country? I am not sure if many have slowly been convinced over time that anything good for corporations is good for them or what? You darn right these kids need these jobs. Kids used to be able to pay for their college with the money they made doing these jobs. For many that was the only way.

Maybe its our educational system thats preventing people from being able to rationalize semi-complex thoughts and ideas? I don't know what has happened?

Don

[malaise]

179. 100% correct my brother

:hi:

[Blue Diadem]

176. Stores around here no longer use baggers. I know of one tiny small town grocery

that still uses baggers. The full size grocery stores we buy from do not have baggers anymore. The cashiers place the items in the bags as soon as they scan them. You load them in your cart yourself, there is no assistance to the curb or car.

The small town store won't allow their shopping carts out of the store. It means you have to wait for a bag boy with his special cart or you attempt to carry your groceries out by hand. Most often, you're left waiting as he's sweeping and cleaning floors or stocking items or unloading trucks.

[uppityperson]

150. You got me, can't figure out if this is sarcasm, copycat or not.

Let's see. How about I start throwing my trash on the ground to provide more work for the employees whose job it is to clean up the trash? Maybe I should hire someone to clean up trash outside my business rather than just doing it myself?

Happy Fall Festival Day!

[Zavulon]

151. I don't bring the cart back, but my reasoning is not to save the cart boy's job.

I do it because the cart boy is getting paid to do something I don't want to do. I don't give a rat's ass about his employment status, I only care that I don't want to return the cart.

By the way, I've never seen anyone puff their chests or act special when returning a cart, I think that's just you.

One last thing, and I apologize if it's been covered in this thread already: am I a chest-puffing, discout-seeking, wannabe store owner for clearing my tray at fast food restaurants? Should I leave my discards all over the table to create job security for the cart boy who will lose his job because of those chest puffers who make you seethe with hate?

[KitchenWitch]

152. I would rather they park all the carts in the handicapped spots

So I have to get out of my car to move the damned fucking things out of the way so I can park my fucking car, so I can go in the fucking store and do my fucking shopping.

I guess I am one of those people you think are puffing out our chests when they bring the cart back to the store. If there is no cart corral, the only sensible thing to do is to bring the cart back to the store.

[harmonicon]

154. I would love it if someone did that

Please be at my office on monday to write this 6,000 work progress report that's months late. If you won't do it, ask one of these shopping cart people the next time you see them.

[Evoman]

155. Message from my gf and I, both who have done retail: Get over yourself.

NOBODIES job is just to pick up the stupid cart. Usually it's just a job you give to the person that is at the bottom of the totem pole. And guess what, they still have other work they would rather be doing in the store, than go outside and pick up carts because a bunch of inconsiderate fucks were playing at Captain-Save-A-Job.

[Stinky The Clown]

157. I like pie

[cherokeeprogressive]

158. I'm guessing that someone called you out for not returning your shopping cart

and leaving it loose in the parking lot. Now you're embarrassed. It's okay. Things like that happen to all of us. Most of us get over it though.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

159. Just leaving your cart wherever it is on the lot is pretty rude

Those things roll around and hit other cars and block parking spaces. I fail to see how pushing your cart to one of the islands in the lot so it is secured is a big imposition or deprives people of jobs.

[HEyHEY]

160. actually, I think it's an extra duty bag boys are saddled with....

I don't think they hire an extra person for it.... frankly, I bet many bag boys would thank you for it.

[McCamy Taylor]

161. Is there a contest for most useless thread today?

[TrogL]

165. I let one of the homeless guys do it - then they get the quarter or loonie

[Fireweed247]

166. Won't anyone think of the worker?

I use to think I was helping by returning the cart, then I saw how happy the young workers were to get out of the store and get some fresh air.

:smoke: Cart leavers for extra smoke breaks :smoke:

[DoctorMyEyes]

167. Step up your game

Why stop at leaving carts in the lot? Shoppers who spread shit all over the toilet seats and walls assure that we'll always need maintenance and janitorial staff! Cleaning up after yourself only puts cash in THE MANS pocket! While you're at it why don't you see if you can randomly unfold a stack of clothes and knock some others off the hangers. For bonus points, make sure you walk on them as you walk away. Hide some raw chicken in the bread!


Do this often enough and one day all those lucky people who owe their livelihood to you will hoist you up on their shoulders and carry you around the store. Seriously... :eyes:

[NNN0LHI]

168. A real dedicated cart retriever I see

You will own the place some day if you retrieve enough of them.

Don

[DoctorMyEyes]

193. I'm not going anywhere

Don't be sad for me, Don. I am a dedicated cart pusher. Dedicated bathroom cleaner. Dedicated floor mopper. Dedicated merchandise stocker. You name it, if it falls to me to do it I'll do it and do it gladly for the good of my employer. Who despite your fantasies doesn't keep me or let me go based on your cart etiquette.

I make fifty grand a year just doing what I'm asked. Now you can leave your cart rolling around out of jealous spite rather than imaginary virtue.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

170. Bringing the cart back is the polite thing to do.

I always bring it back.

[lumberjack_jeff]

171. I love it. It's like we just won an election or something.

I'm just glad that I'm not in the now directionless outrage crosshairs.

[Mollis]

174. I have been to a store where they were supposed to have people doing that.

Instead, the carts were rolling all over the parking lot because it was so windy, and one almost hit my car.
One did hit my friends motorcycle.
And one friend had a tail light broken from a cart.

Maybe that is why people do it themselves. Because some stores just don't do their job.

[ThatsMyBarack]

178. I did that....

A few weeks ago at Petco....Only to bring the cart back to my car in the parking lot and then leave the cart right where I found it! ;)

[nini]

180. We should never have jobs create simply because people are lazy shitbags

that job you speak of is not one that is hired for exclusively and is split between many people with lots of other things to do. It is a pain in the ass and sometimes dangerous if done at night, in the rain etc.

So, yes - we take the carts back to the designated spot and back to the store because we respect our fellow laborers. Same reason we put our knives/forks etc..on our dishes for the server at a restaurant - a little gesture here and there to help our fellow workers is not a bad thing.

[Regret My New Name]

181. I usually don't, but now that you mentioned maybe I will..

I look for any reason possible to feel superior... No, actually I'm kidding. To be honest, that doesn't make much sense. It makes more sense that maybe someone grabbed the carts because they were anticipating that there may be a shortage of carts in/in front of the store when they got up there. That was pretty common at this one store I used to go to a few years ago...

Also, if it's really cold out then why not help out if you can and not force a worker to have to run out in the cold more than he/she has to?

[NNN0LHI]

185. If thats how you feel grab a few of them. Maybe make several trips while you are at it?

The other shoppers will appreciate the laughs.

Don

[Regret My New Name]

200. Dammit, is that hook stuck in my cheek?

;)

[Generator]

182. Uh no but you put it in the cart holder

Don't you? That's where the workers get the carts.

Otherwise you are the asshole that leaves the cart to roll around taking up parking spaces and denting cars.

[NNN0LHI]

186. If you read the thread you would have seen that I did

Otherwise you are an asshole for suggesting that without checking the responses in this thread before making such accusations or without asking first.

Don

[Generator]

188. No excuse me and have a happy thanksgiving

Is there now a DU rule I MUST read every damn response? You didn't mention that in your opening post and it was kinda important. And you could have shorten everyone's life by not having to read them all if that was your intent by including it to begin with. So foul ball in your cart (court ha!) too.

[NNN0LHI]

189. You could have asked before making accusations without reading the whole thread

But you didn't.

Which says a lot more about you than you realize.

See ya later pal.

Don

[proud patriot]

187. I've been to a store and all the carts are out

in the parking lot .. Actually had to walk
back out to get a friggin cart .

I grab one when I see one now .

[OnyxCollie]

190. I'm in grad school and my part-time job is working at a store.

I get the carts, stock the shelves, empty the trash, clean the bathrooms, mop the floors, etc. If someone would bring in the carts, I'd really appreciate it. And I'd still have more than enough work to do.

You need to drop this.

[cali]

207. thank you. You're the person I have in mind when I return

my cart to the store- and I've never received anything but a thank you for doing so. Same with bagging my own groceries.

[golddigger]

191. I throw trash out my car window to keep all the city people working!

:evilgrin:

[DainBramaged]

196. I'd like to see shopping cart races on the Speed channel

Races for top speed pushed, distance, with payload, straightness, around an oval. You could modify them too, rubber lawn mower wheels, maybe aerodynamics.


It's sadder when the scumbags can't even put the carts in the outside collection racks.


Shop Rite of NJ solved the problem (and eliminated cart pushers). You have to pay a quarter to use a cart (they are chained together at the handle with a unique little device, and you get your quarter back when you hook it back up). Ain't no carts floating around loose on their parking lots.

[zorahopkins]

197. If You Go To A Fast Food Place, Do You....

If you go to a fast food place, do you take your trash to the trash receptacle, or do you leave it on your table for someone else?

[yardwork]

198. He strews it around the place to guarantee work for the employees.

[Vanje]

203. I bring in my shopping cart when I'm through with it

but I make up for that by totally trashing the bathrooms.
Its going to take the whole janitorial staff plus a Haz-Mat team to put that restroom back together after I'm done with it.

Hey. Just doing my part for the American worker!

[TexasObserver]

206. There is no duty to return a cart to the store, moral or otherwise.

This is one of those things where some people feel especially proud if they DO return the carts, while some feel especially proud if they don't.

All businesses of size have people who go throughout the parking lot to gather such carts.

Those who take pride in returning the carts are missing a very important point. Parking lots are dangerous places for abductions and robberies, particularly this time of year. Safety experts say get to your car, get your stuff inside, get inside, lock the door and start the engine.

No expert says "be sure to return the cart."

[cboy4]

208. That's not a very good analogy, I'm afraid.

As someone whose worked at COSTCO, and spent hours at a time in the parking lot pushing back rows of ten shopping carts in the blazing heat, we appreciate folks who bring back their carts .. or at least put them in the corrals.

It's not like everyone is going to do it, so there will always be enough work in that regard.

But to make it sound like we are offended that someone else is doing our work for free is very silly.

And to make it sound like jobs are in danger because people help with the carts, that's silly also.

With all due respect.

[datasuspect]

209. i take them up front

or put them in the corrals in the parking lot, if they have one.

but i see it as a courtesy to other car users - so their ride doesn't get smashed by a wayward basket.

[Sanctified]

210. Some stores don't have cart returns spaces in the parking lot.

The Trader Joes I frequent does not have a cart return spot in the parking lot so I take my cart all the way back to the store, it's not like it takes long. I hate assholes that just leave their carts on the sidewalk or worse in the parking lot.

[bean fidhleir]

211. I don't use a cart, myself, because everything has to go into my bike panniers

So I carry my old cloth tote bags from the co-op around and put my groceries into them.

In the parking lot, I'll take the trouble to move a cart that's in the way of traffic, but that's a courtesy toward other people, not the store owners. The store owners can pay someone to look out for their interests.

It's really frightening, the number of people -supposedly smart, educated people- who are eager to work for corporations for free, actually *pay* to advertize them or their product, etc. What a nation of fools we've become. No wonder the ruling class can laugh in our faces.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

212. I can't believe this thread is still open and in GD

I commend you.

[Ilsa]

213. e put our carts in corrals so they don't hit other

peoples' cars. It's the decent thing to do. I usually bag my own groceries with cloth bags I recycled from old curtains.

[Lucian]

214. Wow. Of ALL the things to get annoyed about, you pick this one.

[Dis Pater]

221. I make sure that I am as lazy, rude and inconsiderate as possible at all times

doing my part for the deficit.

[RidinMyDonkey]

222. Most places don't even have a designated "Cart kid"

I've only been to one store where there was a person who's job it was to bring the carts back in. It was a pretty small store in a small town I used to live in. It was the shit job too. You bring the carts back into the store until some other poor sucker comes along and you get promoted. The cart job was usually given to a highschool kid or a stoner.

other places, that are bigger and can afford more carts just send an employee out to get the carts every so often. They're not continually out there collecting carts, or if they are that's very strange.

[Dis Pater]

223. If we all refused to flush the toilets, they would have to hire someone to do it.

Let's start now.

[golddigger]

229. Better yet! Let's plug up all the stores toilettes, so someone has a job...

of unplugging them.

[Forkboy]

224. Starting the egg nog early this year, I see.

[flvegan]

225. Still going? Sweet!

[blondeatlast]

227. Kicks for giggles. nt

[Mike 03]

228. I not only do it, I enjoy doing it. And I also take other carts back into the store.

What is wrong with you lately, man?

[cali]

230. Shocking, Mike!! How can you be so thoughtless??!

[csziggy]

231. I don't want people to take the carts back - I need them as a support to get into the store!

[Darth_Kitten]

232. There are more than enough stupid/inconsiderate/lazy people in this world......

to keep most of us employed.

[alarimer]

233. You leave those carts out so the wind can blow them into people's cars.

Fuck you. I HATE assholes who are too fucking lazy to bring their carts to the corral. Not the store, just the cart corral. Those high school kids still need to go collect them.

Or are you more like the fucking bitch who put the car in the parking space AS I WAS PULLING INTO IT! Fuck all you lazy assholes. I exempt anyone who can't do it but the rest of you are just lazy shits who should have pay the bill to fix all the dings on all the cars in the parking lot.

[blondeatlast]

234. This thread beats the Laura Branigan one for laughs big time. May it NEVER die... nt

[L0oniX]

235. Ah so your saying that the (shopping cart) homeless help others to keep their jobs?