# Bad, bad, bad shopping cart war **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 24, 2023, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018 "2023-10-24T17:17:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/21 "2023-10-24T23:33:20Z")
I park in the cart corral to streamline the whole process. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/22 "2023-10-24T23:34:09Z")
Somehow, I believe you. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/23 "2023-10-24T23:52:39Z")
Let me tell you how this cart thing is managed in Europe. ALL over Europe. Itā€™s simple. They make you pay a deposit for them. Just one Euro, or fifty cent. Not much. But it is enough of an incentive for people to bring them back to the designated area (which is never far away anyway, there are usually several). So if you are too lazy to bring them back, if one Euro or fifty cent are not enough for you to bother: no problem. Some kid will gladly do it. The mechanism for that looks like that: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L8_CmWjBkWI/maxresdefault.jpg) ](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L8_CmWjBkWI/maxresdefault.jpg) If you donā€™t do that in the USA, I may have a suggestion for a franchise that could bring in big bucks. It is a simple an effective mechanism: a lock, a chain, and a slit for the coins. It works. I think 1% of your sales would be a correct commission for the first five years, afterwards I give you the idea for free, forever. Wait, what? You donā€™t have dollar coins? Only quarters? Should be enough, stop worrying. Some people even have plastic chips the right size in their key-ring, so they always have the right ā€œchangeā€ handy. They sell them cheap in packs of many, and still people bring the carts back. Civilized, we are over here. (looks smug) Oh, [here is an [spoiler]asshole[/spoiler] ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpx7Mmjgizk) who proudly shows how he cheats on that. In-cre-di-ble. With proletarian East-German accent, probably votes AfD (yeah, I am proud of my prejudices too). Deary me, and they think they are good at technical solutions, those gringos? Ts, ts, tsā€¦ ETA: Aha, blurr spoilers donā€™t work in links? Never mind, I showed good will. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/24 "2023-10-24T23:56:25Z")
We do have these at some stores. I think most of them have been removed actually at least around here. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/25 "2023-10-24T23:58:57Z")
Why did they remove them? Too simple? Too effective? Does it infringe the Second Amendment? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/26 "2023-10-25T00:59:37Z")
Aldi is the main chain I can think of that uses them. If some store removed them, Iā€™m going to guess itā€™s because, in todayā€™s electronic-driven society, no one carries quarters on them. Then you go to a store that requires a quarter to use a cart and customers either get upset, buy only as much as they can carry or else just go to a different store (or some combination thereof). ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/27 "2023-10-25T01:16:33Z")
What future do yā€™all live in? Ainā€™t never seen those. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/28 "2023-10-25T01:43:07Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > Some **elderly/mildly disabled** people use the cart to lean on as they walk into, around, and out of the store. If they put it back in the cart corral, they donā€™t have that support from the corral to their cars. - Based on what I see, appx. 90% of the population fits that description. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/29 "2023-10-25T01:50:23Z")
I lean on the cart all the time, sometimes I ride on it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/30 "2023-10-25T01:56:39Z")
If I had to rent the damn thing for $0.50, Iā€™d leave the damn thing where ever I pleased. Mrs. Plant, who used to work at a Kroger grocery store, tells me that not returning the carts provides employment for the people who are paid to return them to the store. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/31 "2023-10-25T01:57:02Z")
Youā€™re saying that 90% of the population is so aged and/or disabled, that they _need_ to lean on the cart? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/32 "2023-10-25T01:58:17Z")
I think I push a cart for the intended purpose. Always have big needs. We feed so many. Iā€™d like to ride in the cart too. But Ivy wonā€™t push me. And my feet would drag the floor. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/33 "2023-10-25T01:59:21Z")
No, Iā€™m saying that based on the sheer number of carts left scattered around the parking lot, 90% of the population is elderly/disabled. It was sarcasm. Hell, Iā€™m disabled and I manage to put the cart away where it belongs. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/34 "2023-10-25T02:04:31Z")
Our cart wrangler at Walmart was disabled himself. He would line up about 20 at a time and start yelling ā€œMuleteam!!ā€ As loud as he could. And running them in. He was famous for it. He got fired for running a lady who was walking into a moving car with his cart mules. Sad day in South Arkansas. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/35 "2023-10-25T02:10:23Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > Beck, I hate when people get cranky because someone doesnā€™t return a cart. Some elderly/mildly disabled people use the cart to lean on as they walk into, around, and out of the store. If they put it back in the cart corral, they donā€™t have that support from the corral to their cars. If you turn the cart so it doesnā€™t roll, itā€™s not going to hit anyoneā€™s car. I have to disagree with that. As someone with a mild sciatic condition in one leg that makes me less than agile when walking, Iā€™m one of those who does find a shopping cart a useful support. I was particularly aware of that today when I just needed a few things so went in with just my grocery bag. Itā€™s a big store and I wished I had taken a cart. But hereā€™s my point: I always return the cart, either to the cart corral or back to the store, whichever is closest. Iā€™d feel like a total jerk if I did not. Same reason that if I accidentally knock something off a shelf in the store, I always put it back. One may ask what difference it really makes. The answer is that if everyone did the same, the world would be a better place, so itā€™s a basic tenet of morality. Itā€™s the same reason I donā€™t try to steal things at the self-checkout. As for those who are sufficiently disabled that they canā€™t even make it from a proper cart parking place to their car, how the hell did they make it from their car to the store in the first place? And how do they get around in stores that donā€™t have shopping carts? Iā€™m not unsympathetic, Iā€™m just saying that anyone in that condition should be using a walker, and that leaving shopping carts lying around ā€“ sometimes in the middle of the best parking spots ā€“ is almost always the result of just pure inconsiderate laziness. Nothing in the above diminishes my admiration for our Beckersā€™ wonderful response to the obnoxious Karen in the parking lot, who should have kept her mouth shut or, preferably, stayed home. Some have expressed a willingness to kick her in the ass. I my capacity as a lovely but large Bernese Mountain Dog, Iā€™d like to express my willingness to bite her in the leg. > [@running\_coach](#): > > Hell, Iā€™m disabled and I manage to put the cart away where it belongs. My point exactly! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/36 "2023-10-25T02:25:27Z")
Yet I see elderly doing just that. Using the cart as a defacto walker. Occasionally you see some with those fancy walkers that have baskets and seats built in. Handy since Walmart has removed the benches, in our store. No loitering in Walmart, I guess. I thought they were handy, myself. A cane or a helper if theyā€™re to infirmed to manage seems to be needed. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/37 "2023-10-25T03:45:03Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > If I had to rent the damn thing for $0.50, Iā€™d leave the damn thing where ever I pleased. Itā€™s not really a rental. More a deposit on good behavior. If you return the cart, you get your coin(s) back since attaching it to another cart pops your coin(s) out. If you abandon the cart, you abandon your coins with it since theyā€™re in the lockbox. But the whole thing only works if you have a quarter in the first place. Which, more often than not in this age, I do not. Or thereā€™s outfits that will sell you a slug to keep on your keychain or something but Iā€™m not invested enough in shopping at Aldi to make special purchases so I can use their carts. On the other hand, if I was a woman with a purse, maybe Iā€™d be more likely to have a quarter on me at any given moment. ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/38 "2023-10-25T13:04:47Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > ā€œEat shit and die, Ricky!ā€ > ā€œEat shit and _live,_ Bill.ā€ My brotherā€™s version was ā€œEat shit and burp!ā€. I always thought that was meaner and nastier. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/39 "2023-10-25T13:07:56Z")
my mother would not use a walker, but would enthusiastically use a cart. i did consider just buying her a cart. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018/40 "2023-10-25T13:09:56Z")
I think itā€™s assholish in general (there may be emergency circumstances on occasion) to not return to the cart. Itā€™s inconsiderate, makes them a risk to other cars, etc. And shoppers should absolutely be responsible for their cars while unloading and care if they roll away, because they can damage other cars. Itā€™s just selfish to leave the cart wherever and let it do whatever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-bad-bad-shopping-cart-war/992018.md?page=3)