# Have you ever seen kids joy riding supermarket motorized scooters for disabled/elderly/obese? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 8, 2017, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-kids-joy-riding-supermarket-motorized-scooters-for-disabled-elderly-obese/784049 "2017-04-08T10:42:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-kids-joy-riding-supermarket-motorized-scooters-for-disabled-elderly-obese/784049/21 "2017-04-08T20:05:50Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > You can’t do that with the carts I’ve used. “Full speed” is pretty slow, and if you take your foot off the pedal, it stops. No rolling. The ones I’ve seen don’t have pedals. They have hand levers. Although they do stop immediately when you let them go. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-kids-joy-riding-supermarket-motorized-scooters-for-disabled-elderly-obese/784049/22 "2017-04-08T22:29:48Z")
Exactly once. When entered the store, I saw the child trying to back the scooter out of its little cubby; when I left, I saw Mom valiantly defending Little Junior’s curiosity and spirit of exploration against two employees who had apparently intercepted the cute little tyke in his effort to drive the scooter out into the parking lot. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-kids-joy-riding-supermarket-motorized-scooters-for-disabled-elderly-obese/784049/23 "2017-04-08T22:38:15Z")
I may have used a bit of hyperbole by saying I see kids playing on them more than people using them that actually need them. But I do see this (kids playing on scooters) not-infrequently. Based on the responses in both threads, I think it’s a combination of location and me simply being more prone to notice (kinda like I’m more prone to notice handicap parking violators). And I am only speaking of kids _actually playing_ on them, racing down aisles, etc. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-kids-joy-riding-supermarket-motorized-scooters-for-disabled-elderly-obese/784049/24 "2017-04-10T00:46:47Z")
:eek:Not children but young MALE adults (roughly 20-24 years old). They were attending an internal intercompany course I was putting on. One day near the end of the multi-week course, 8 of them were in a nearby pub getting dinner. (The hotel they were staying at did not offer any meals) and the pub had some pretty good meals as well as a relaxation area and some good big screen TV’s so I don’t blame them for going there. After a few hours at the pub (and probably a few drinks), they headed back to the hotel. On the way back, they found an electric scooter outside a Tom Thumb (Supermarket) complete with the key in it. They drove it back to the hotel (one driving and a few other riding). Once back at the hotel, they collectively decided to head to the strippers. So the eight of them piled into a older Suburban that we had borrowed out to them and went to the strip club and closed it down. Once returning from the strippers, (at 3:00 am in the morning) a few of them decided to take this cart which they had left at the hotel and use it to get one of the guys (who had passed out) back to his room. Once they dropped the drunk passed out person into his room, a couple of them decided to use this cart to joyride up and down the hotel corridors waking up a few guests who then confronted them and once the hotel lobby opened the next morning reported them to the front office. As we were using them as the preferred hotel, the front office of the hotel knew that they were from our company and by the next morning, I got several messages about an incident at the hotel. I got out my digital camera (this was before smart phones were common) and took a picture of the class and then me and several other members of our instructional group went to the hotel and the guests who had confronted them identified the culprits. We then interviewed the culprits (one at a time) and they very quickly turned in each other and found out that there was 3 main instigators and the other 5 were following them. (The other 5 didn’t borrow/steal the cart but they didn’t stop the 3 instigators either) My boss was furious at this and wanted heads to roll so we kicked out the 3 instigators from the course and sent them back to their home country. (This course had people from all over the world). Interestingly enough, of the 3 that were sent back 2 were fired right away with one being hired back a few months later. The one that was hired back was an outstanding student except for this incident. The third was indispensable to their operations and his boss ignored this incident. The other funny part is that an ex-military guy in our group had them drive this cart back in the middle of the day and had them apologize to the disturbed guests at the hotel, the hotel management, and the grocery store manager. (This ex-military guy seemed to take a little too much pleasure in this :eek:) ---
**Author:** ![Brodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Brodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brodi)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-kids-joy-riding-supermarket-motorized-scooters-for-disabled-elderly-obese/784049/25 "2017-04-10T01:28:24Z")
I worked at a grocery store for five years and never saw kids messing with the carts. I think it was because 1. They broke down all the time and 2. the layout of the store meant it would be hard to go anywhere at speed. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-kids-joy-riding-supermarket-motorized-scooters-for-disabled-elderly-obese/784049/26 "2017-04-10T02:30:44Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > :eek:Not children but young MALE adults (roughly 20-24 years old). as a guy, I can state with confidence that far too many of us still act like children at that age. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-kids-joy-riding-supermarket-motorized-scooters-for-disabled-elderly-obese/784049/27 "2017-04-10T02:37:56Z")
My son used to try riding them every time we went to Target. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-kids-joy-riding-supermarket-motorized-scooters-for-disabled-elderly-obese/784049/28 "2017-04-10T06:10:51Z")
No but most of the people I see riding them are only disabled because they don’t walk. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-kids-joy-riding-supermarket-motorized-scooters-for-disabled-elderly-obese/784049/29 "2017-04-10T06:37:37Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > No but most of the people I see riding them are only disabled because they don’t walk. And you know this how? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-kids-joy-riding-supermarket-motorized-scooters-for-disabled-elderly-obese/784049/30 "2017-04-10T06:41:43Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The ones I’ve seen don’t have pedals. They have hand levers. Although they do stop immediately when you let them go. Sorry, I meant the hand lever. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-kids-joy-riding-supermarket-motorized-scooters-for-disabled-elderly-obese/784049/31 "2017-04-10T07:32:49Z")
I see it occasionally. I live next to UCLA and its usually a college kid. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-kids-joy-riding-supermarket-motorized-scooters-for-disabled-elderly-obese/784049/32 "2017-04-10T07:42:17Z")
I’ve seen kids riding motorized “minivehicles” including some relative’s motorized scooter or wheelchair (it tends to be more complicated than the kid expected), but supermarkets providing them for the customers is something which AFAIK only happens in the US. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-kids-joy-riding-supermarket-motorized-scooters-for-disabled-elderly-obese/784049.md?page=1)