The Shopping Cart Theory

[T&C]

I'm usually good with taking it to a cart corral if it's Publix, they have theirs placed out the right way. Only reason I wouldn't is a soaking monsoon rain like we get here in Florida. Other stores don't have theirs placed out right and I'm not going 3-4 rows over to return it. If I have just 2-3 bags I don't even take the cart out of the place, just walk them out. I'm part savage I suppose.

 

 

 

 

 

[Gugny]

There is never a good reason to not put a shopping cart in a cart corral before leaving.

[T&C]

6 minutes ago, Gugny said:

There is never a good reason to not put a shopping cart in a cart corral before leaving.

Disagree. Like I said, we get rains at the rate of 1"- 2" an hour sometimes... and the thunder and lightning. That cart is staying right where I left it.

[Saxum]

I shop at Aldi's.  They do the smart thing and require you to put quarter in to get cart and return it when you return cart.

Now with COVID-19 they pay someone to clean carts and some do not bother to return and leave in parking lot.

Before COVID-19 I saw one loose cart in all of my trips but some may have been returned by other customers.

Last time I shopped I returned three carts to the worker cleaning; she was surprised and gave me a clean cart.

 

At other supermarkets I will sometimes leave a cart if I bring it in from parking lot near my car if it is a large parking lot.

Some of the parking lots are very large and I have trouble with my feet and no longer have handicapped parking permit.

 

If you would count extra returns as wins and non-returns as losses I would be eligible for playoffs.

[Gugny]

7 minutes ago, T&C said:

Disagree. Like I said, we get rains at the rate of 1"- 2" an hour sometimes... and the thunder and lightning. That cart is staying right where I left it.

 

In that weather, it's likely to get blown into someone's parked car.

[T&C]

4 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

In that weather, it's likely to get blown into someone's parked car.

Not really. In the rare chance I have to go to the store (Publix) with weather like that (I'm a radar freak) there are hardly any other cars around.

[Gugny]

10 minutes ago, T&C said:

Not really. In the rare chance I have to go to the store (Publix) with weather like that (I'm a radar freak) there are hardly any other cars around.

 

I swear by the My Radar app.  Have been using it for years.

[Logic]

I'm in the "unless its a hurricane or you're frail or physically limited in some way, you should ALWAYS return the cart" camp. Always. 

I can understand not doing so during a severe thunderstorm. But some rain and wind? Please.

It's just a tiny bit of common courtesy and decency. Like not taking up two spots when parking or bussing your own table in restaurants that ask you to do so.

I agree with the OP that shopping cars are the perfect litmus test because of the lack of threat or repercussion. The question is, with no reward or punishment forthcoming, are you going to do the right and decent thing?

[Success]

I usually do.  But sometimes I don't.

 

[T&C]

7 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

I swear by the My Radar app.  Have been using it for years.

I had that one a couple of phones ago but I find that just keeping Baynews9 in my google search field gives me the best one locally... the thing is pretty damn accurate, county, 7 county, Florida. 

[Johnny Hammersticks]

46 minutes ago, Gugny said:

There is never a good reason to not put a shopping cart in a cart corral before leaving.

 

What if you’re unloading your groceries and al of a sudden you get mauled by a gorilla?  I’m jumping in the car and taking off, bruh ??‍♂️

[GoBills808]

I always do. Rain or shine. 

 

Parking lots are hazardous enough. People who can't be bothered to take 2 minutes to return their shopping cart and leave it to roam around the lot dinging other people's cars and getting in the way are the worst.

[Just Jack]

I'll return my cart to the corral about 99% of the time. Now with that being said....

 

As a former grocery store stocker, one of my duties was bringing in carts. I didn't care if they were in the corral or not, because the more time I spent outside gathering carts, the less time I was spending inside the store dealing with customers. I'd go hiking over the entire lot, making sure I checked the far corners of the lot. In winter I'd check the snow piles and pull out any I found in there. Most of my fellow employees felt the same way, sometimes it was a race when they would call for carts, because the first one to the front of the store got to go get them. And we didn't have one of those motorized cart pushers, it was all pure muscle. 

[Gugny]

1 minute ago, Just Jack said:

I'll return my cart to the corral about 99% of the time. Now with that being said....

 

As a former grocery store stocker, one of my duties was bringing in carts. I didn't care if they were in the corral or not, because the more time I spent outside gathering carts, the less time I was spending inside the store dealing with customers. I'd go hiking over the entire lot, making sure I checked the far corners of the lot. In winter I'd check the snow piles and pull out any I found in there. Most of my fellow employees felt the same way, sometimes it was a race when they would call for carts, because the first one to the front of the store got to go get them. And we didn't have one of those motorized cart pushers, it was all pure muscle. 

 

Walmart and Target are the only ones I've seen who have the motorized thing.

[Happy]

People who can't walk a couple of extra steps to put their cart in the parking lot cart return area are just lazy....in any weather.  In large parking lots, there are multiple cart return areas, so it is not like they have to hike over the hills and far away to return their cart.

 

I used to have to retrieve carts when I worked at a grocery store.  I hated having to go all over the parking lot and into neighboring stores lots to retrieve the grocery carts, no matter what the weather.  I disliked retrieving carts because my other duties inside the store were not put on hold, meaning customers (shoppers) and management would not be happy if I was gone a long time retrieving far off carts.

[Gray Beard]

Sometimes a round up stray carts and return them as well.  Do I get extra bonus points?

[WhoTom]

59 minutes ago, T&C said:

Disagree. Like I said, we get rains at the rate of 1"- 2" an hour sometimes... and the thunder and lightning. That cart is staying right where I left it.

 

At that point, you're already soaked just by going from the store to the car. What's another 10 seconds to return the cart?

 

 

[DrW]

After 13 years in Rochester, I went grocery shopping for the first time here in West Texas. After I had paid, a kid came up and offered to take my cart (here they call it "basket") to my car. No, I said, I can do it myself. He: But, sir... Me: No, I do it myself. Then, the next time grocery shopping it dawned on me: here they have employees who push your cart, load up your car, and return the cart to avoid it being stranded on the lot. I do not know how widespread this service is - I have not encountered it anywhere else.

In Walmarts and Target you have to push your cart yourself.

Edited July 3, 2020 by DrW

[T&C]

9 minutes ago, Happy said:

People who can't walk a couple of extra steps to put their cart in the parking lot cart return area are just lazy....in any weather.  In large parking lots, there are multiple cart return areas, so it is not like they have to hike over the hills and far away to return their cart.

 

I used to have to retrieve carts when I worked at a grocery store.  I hated having to go all over the parking lot and into neighboring stores lots to retrieve the grocery carts, no matter what the weather.  I disliked retrieving carts because my other duties inside the store were not put on hold, meaning customers (shoppers) and management would not be happy if I was gone a long time retrieving far off carts.

No way. This depends on where you live and what time of the year... or even the Time of day. 

1 minute ago, WhoTom said:

 

At that point, you're already soaked just by going from the store to the car. What's another 10 seconds to return the cart?

 

 

Not 10 seconds man. I'm not taking the mofo anywhere in that kind of weather... even with an umbrella.

[WhoTom]

23 minutes ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

 

What if you’re unloading your groceries and al of a sudden you get mauled by a gorilla?  I’m jumping in the car and taking off, bruh ??‍♂️

 

Not me. I'm a graduate of this self-defense class: