The Shopping Cart Theory

[LeviF]

21 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

I take them right back to the door and grab any extra I see.  Every time.  Every place. 

 

People are lazy...

 

21 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

I pick up garbage too.   Even post-COVID.  I use the "Disney Swoop"... Hardly  know what I am up too... ? ? 

 

 

 

 

 

As to the OP, the post on whatever chan that was is absolutely spot on.  There's no real incentive to return a cart, and there's absolutely no punishment for not returning it (unless you get caught by Cart Narcs!).  The only motivation is that it helps out people that you'll probably never meet.  If you don't do it, you and your unfortunate progeny should be publicly shamed.

[ExiledInIllinois]

10 minutes ago, LeviF91 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

As to the OP, the post on whatever chan that was is absolutely spot on.  There's no real incentive to return a cart, and there's absolutely no punishment for not returning it (unless you get caught by Cart Narcs!).  The only motivation is that it helps out people that you'll probably never meet.  If you don't do it, you and your unfortunate progeny should be publicly shamed.

Agree.  I don't know how everybody was raised... But...

 

I was always  taught: "Make it  easier  for the next  guy."

 

Why not help  out?  Aldi charges 25 cents so they don't  have to pay  someone. That ain't  right. Really?  Cheap food for my fat  azz is more important  than  keeping  people working.  Sorry.   Charge  me more.  I will  still  help the kid out.  Make  their  job easier.

 

OH.  Sorry.  My posting  style  is a work in progress. ?  ?. 

[apuszczalowski]

44 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Agree.  I don't know how everybody was raised... But...

 

I was always  taught: "Make it  easier  for the next  guy."

 

Why not help  out?  Aldi charges 25 cents so they don't  have to pay  someone. That ain't  right. Really?  Cheap food for my fat  azz is more important  than  keeping  people working.  Sorry.   Charge  me more.  I will  still  help the kid out.  Make  their  job easier.

 

OH.  Sorry.  My posting  style  is a work in progress. ?  ?. 

Some places around here have the Quarter locks on them that you need to insert a coin to unlock the cart and get it back when you put it back locked to another one. Usually works well even though you would think a quarter today isn't worth much. Some stores even have locks on the carts that are activated if they get a certain distance away from the doors so you can't leave the property with them.

 

I always put my cart back in the cart coral/return area. It's difficult at time because I would have a child with me. I always felt awkward if I put them in my truck and just ran over a few spots to put the cart back because of what people would think of me leaving my kid in the vehicle. When it's raining it's tough to go down with the empty cart to return I and have to walk back with the kid. It's always better then just leaving the cart somewhere in a parking spot....

[WhoTom]

6 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

If you have an infant and a small todder with you, the sequencing can be problematic.  Do you put the baby and the todder in the car so they're buckled in and protected from weather, before you unload the groceries?  Or do you leave the baby and toddler in the sun/rain/snow and try to keep one eye on them while unloading?  Then, if the kids are still with the cart and you return it, you get to lug/walk them back to the car from the cart which can be tougher than it sounds if the toddler is cranky and does the tantrum/collapse thing.  Or, if they're in the car, do you leave them there while you return the cart and risk the car being jacked along with your kids - it has happened?

 

I feel like the answer is some shopping cart variation of this:

 

First you take the chicken across the river. Go back for the corn.

Drop off the corn and bring the chicken back.

Leave the chicken on the first shore and take the fox across. Leave the fox with the corn.

Return for the chicken and bring it across.

Everyone's safe.

 

Edited July 5, 2020 by WhoTom

[LeGOATski]

On 7/4/2020 at 11:48 AM, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Eh. 

 

If you have an infant and a small todder with you, the sequencing can be problematic.  Do you put the baby and the todder in the car so they're buckled in and protected from weather, before you unload the groceries?  Or do you leave the baby and toddler in the sun/rain/snow and try to keep one eye on them while unloading?  Then, if the kids are still with the cart and you return it, you get to lug/walk them back to the car from the cart which can be tougher than it sounds if the toddler is cranky and does the tantrum/collapse thing.  Or, if they're in the car, do you leave them there while you return the cart and risk the car being jacked along with your kids - it has happened?

 

Some stores have a lot of cart corrals so it's literally a couple steps.  Some, it's a hike.

 

 

you secure the kids in the car first every time, even in perfect weather. That's the safest place for them. Lock the doors when you return the cart. 

 

But T&C doesn't even have kids. He's just an old, lazy dude.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 minute ago, LeGOATski said:

you secure the kids in the car first every time, even in perfect weather. That's the safest place for them. Lock the doors when you return the cart. 

 

But T&C doesn't even have kids. He's just an old, lazy dude.

 

Not so fast.  Here in the Heartland, when the car is initially unlocked, it is typically broiling hot in there.

 

No way does any sane parent want to stick their kid in there and lock the door, not without the car running and the AC blasting.  Their brains would cook.

And locking the kids in a running car is a whole different level of risk

 

My point is, I’m just not gonna be so quick to be harsh and judgy about people who leave their shopping cart next to the car.

 

 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

"The needs of the shopping many outweigh the needs of the shopping few, or the shopping one".  ?

[LeGOATski]

20 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Not so fast.  Here in the Heartland, when the car is initially unlocked, it is typically broiling hot in there.

 

No way does any sane parent want to stick their kid in there and lock the door, not without the car running and the AC blasting.  Their brains would cook.

And locking the kids in a running car is a whole different level of risk

 

My point is, I’m just not gonna be so quick to be harsh and judgy about people who leave their shopping cart next to the car.

 

 

You're being overdramatic. I guess you can try to play the "good parent" card here, but it doesn't come off as genuine. 

 

Your kids are in the car maybe 20 secs at most? You have the keys. Keep a window cracked open?

 

These are just excuses for lazy cart abandoners.

[T&C]

31 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

you secure the kids in the car first every time, even in perfect weather. That's the safest place for them. Lock the doors when you return the cart. 

 

But T&C doesn't even have kids. He's just an old, lazy dude.

Lol... have we met or is this just a guess?

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

35 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

But T&C doesn't even have kids. He's just an old, lazy dude.

"Hello, honey?...it's me, T&C.  I'm in jail, the grandkids are eating cookies and drinking sodas at the Cop Shop, the windows are smashed out of the car from the 'rescue', and I didn't get the quarter out of the slot in the shopping cart!"  ?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

12 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

You're being overdramatic. I guess you can try to play the "good parent" card here, but it doesn't come off as genuine. 

 

Your kids are in the car maybe 20 secs at most? You have the keys. Keep a window cracked open?

 

These are just excuses for lazy cart abandoners.

 

I’m whatever you say, but

1) some cart corrals are 20-30 seconds away, some are several minutes walk across the parking lot and back

2) Cracking a window doesn’t “cut it” for keeping a dog cool, why would it be effective for a baby.

 

NFW would I have ever placed my kid in a hot car around here and walk away to return a cart, nor in a running car that I then locked and walked away from.  

Unsafe

That was 19-20 years ago Less safe today.

 

And Frankly, my Dear, I don’t Give a Damn whether or not you think that’s Genuine.  

 

I also have little respect for people who respond in a discussion by telling other people they’re “playing a card” - speaking of “not Genuine”

 

 

[The Dean]

39 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Not so fast.  Here in the Heartland, when the car is initially unlocked, it is typically broiling hot in there.

 

No way does any sane parent want to stick their kid in there and lock the door, not without the car running and the AC blasting.  Their brains would cook.

And locking the kids in a running car is a whole different level of risk

 

My point is, I’m just not gonna be so quick to be harsh and judgy about people who leave their shopping cart next to the car.

 

 

 

 

Excellent point. But I hope you, and other stressed parents, at least find a place to secure the cart so it doesn't roll out into the parking lot aisle, parking space or vehicle.  

 

I think there is a decent argument for leaving them in the corrals. If everybody brought back their carts (as I do in normal times) it might cost jobs for those paid to retrieve them.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

9 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

I also have little respect for people who respond in a discussion by telling other people they’re “playing a card” - speaking of “not Genuine”

 

 

3 of ♣️

[LeGOATski]

31 minutes ago, T&C said:

Lol... have we met or is this just a guess?

Its a hunch!

 

All based on this thread alone.

22 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I’m whatever you say, but

1) some cart corrals are 20-30 seconds away, some are several minutes walk across the parking lot and back

2) Cracking a window doesn’t “cut it” for keeping a dog cool, why would it be effective for a baby.

 

NFW would I have ever placed my kid in a hot car around here and walk away to return a cart, nor in a running car that I then locked and walked away from.  

Unsafe

That was 19-20 years ago Less safe today.

 

And Frankly, my Dear, I don’t Give a Damn whether or not you think that’s Genuine.  

 

I also have little respect for people who respond in a discussion by telling other people they’re “playing a card” - speaking of “not Genuine”

 

 

You're playing the card hard right now. And you're raising more card playing shopping cart abandoners.

 

The future is bleak.

[T&C]

Well, I am being sort of lazy today and I'm kind of old... too young to go to the original Woodstock though, my Mother wouldn't let me.

 

Hapless is 100% correct, even with tinted windows a parked vehicle sitting for an hour in Florida can get to insane temps... metal pieces will burn the ***** out of you until the AC has a little time to work. No way you are putting kids right into that thing. Either I or the wife shop, rarely together... its not like a grocery store is something new or unique.

 

Like I said, unless its a monsoon Florida afternoon rain... during the summer/fall months they can pop up out of nowhere... I take the cart back to the corral. Heavy duty storm, that cart is sitting right where I left it, too risky to be moving a piece of metal around with lightning happening.

[Saxum]

1 hour ago, LeGOATski said:

You're being overdramatic. I guess you can try to play the "good parent" card here, but it doesn't come off as genuine. 

 

Your kids are in the car maybe 20 secs at most? You have the keys. Keep a window cracked open?

 

These are just excuses for lazy cart abandoners.

 

If only your parents were not so lazy and used a condom.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Here's  a novel idea: Park next  to a corral.

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

I will typically return the cart, but when I cannot, I do the right thing and pound one of the wheels down with a hammer so it will not roll into anything.  I shop a lot, so if you’ve ever used a cart after I did, you are very welcome. 

[LeviF]

9 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Here's  a novel idea: Park next  to a corral.

 

***** thank you.  Let's not act like there aren't parking spaces next to the corral, considering most Americans are lazy ***** and the corrals tend to be further out than your typical 35 BMI patron wants to walk in that oppressive heat.

[teef]

i always put the carts back.  at pet smart i'll walk it back into the store.

 

you touched/used the cart, put the thing back.  if you're too lazy to put it back, don't take it in the first place.

 

at wegmans recently, i was in line with a guy that was around my age.  looked to be in good shape.  we walked out together, and this guy parked his escalade in handicap.  the guy had no problems getting around, hoisting the bags in, etc.  once he was done what does he do?  leaves the cart in the handicap space next to him, and drives away.  people like that deserve to get kicked in the face.