# I Pit Those SUV-Sized Shopping Cart/Kiddie Cars and the Parents Who Use Them **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 15, 2006, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600 "2006-02-15T05:16:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/21 "2006-02-15T18:04:22Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > but for those who have a spouse, why take the kids to the store? I don’t get it. One reason is - big surprise here - people like doing things with their kids. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/22 "2006-02-15T18:04:42Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > And I also agree the OP should have said something. Clapping your hands is reminiscient of snapping your fingers at me…not very polite, that’s all. And I would never guess that meant “Please move”. And I agree with this one. If someone stood behind me and clapped, I would have wondered if they were trying to resusitate Tinkerbell. ---
**Author:** ![Faruiza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@Faruiza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faruiza)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/23 "2006-02-15T18:17:02Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Or at least have cans of pie filling winged at their heads. WHEN GET HIT, BRING PIE! _snort_ ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/24 "2006-02-15T18:17:23Z")
> [@Veuve\_ClicquotNJ](#): > > I hate them too, but I’d rather have the little tyke safely ensconced in something I can at least see coming and avoid. Today, I got clipped from behind by a toddler pushing a toddler-size shopping cart that Mommy had apparently brought from home. Mommy didn’t understand why I wasn’t amused - must have had something to do with the two runs in my $19.50 Donna Karan pantyhose (Valentine’s dinner date.) :rolleyes: > > VCNJ~ Actually, she probably hadn’t brought the cart from home. As a couple of other people in this thread have observed, some supermarkets have taken to providing kid-sized shopping carts, presumably to hasten the process of turning human beings into consumers. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/25 "2006-02-15T18:47:26Z")
> [@jacquilynne](#): > > I’m sorry, you stood very still behind her as if you were looking at a shelf and somehow expected this woman to magically guess based on you clapping your hands - which is not, to the best of my knowledge, a universally known symbol for ‘excuse me, please’ - that you wanted to go past her? Do you belong to some secret society of telepaths where that sort of thing is normal? > > This isn’t about you being ‘patient’. It’s about you being passive. > > ‘Excuse me, please.’ They’re magic words. They almost certainly would have got you exactly what you wanted, exactly when you wanted it. True. Why didn’t the OP just push the abandoned cart the hell out of her way? The abandoned cart was the real problem since the isles are designed for two way traffic. Everything would have worked out if time-rift lady hadn’t left her cart there. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/26 "2006-02-15T19:07:48Z")
I dunno. Kalhoun Jr. was an absolute dream to shop with. When he was little, he’d discuss the groceries with me and we’d share the duties. I’d take it off the shelf, hand it to him, and he’d deposit it in the cart. When he got older, he had that store mapped out in his head to the point that I’d ask him, “Where’s the aluminum foil?” and he’d say “Aisle 6” or he’d go get it for me!! I adored shopping with him! Hate the carts. They’re too big. Though I do like chatting with the little tykes that are in them. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/27 "2006-02-15T19:09:22Z")
> [@jacquilynne](#): > > ‘Excuse me, please.’ They’re magic words. They almost certainly would have got you exactly what you wanted, exactly when you wanted it. A-fucking-men. What kind of passive aggressive moron stands in a shopping aisle with their thumb up their ass (except for when they are clapping for attention-what the hell does that mean anyway?) instead of politely saying “excuse me” and getting on with their day; then comes online and wails about it looking for kudos and attaboys? In the situation as you’ve described it, there is one person at fault-you. Grow just half a pair why doncha? Your life will be a lot easier, and your shopping times a lot shorter. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/28 "2006-02-15T19:31:09Z")
> [@](#): > > the parents who think their little Pookie-Ookums will just die if he can’t ride in one! Here’s a news flash: the world does not revolve around you. Children have as much a right to exist here, on Earth, as you do, and, being people, should be welcome in this most mundane of places, the grocery store. If allowing a child to ride in a child-designed grocery cart is annoying to you, I suggest you stay home and have your groceries delivered. Or pay someone else to do it. Or starve. Why people think that children–CHILDREN!, which is what people start out as, after all–are some class of beast to be scorned and ridiculed when they aren’t standing mute and unbreathing – or better yet – cease to exist at all when you, The Pinnacle of All that Exists, _the single person unburdend by \ children!!_ arrives on the scene, just absolutely slays me. They should be trained to behave themselves, to be sure, but here’s another news flash: sometimes they don’t. Life works like that. Sometimes things go great, sometimes it’s a challenge or a chore. Get used to it. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/29 "2006-02-15T19:45:59Z")
> [@Ellen Cherry](#): > > Here’s a news flash: the world does not revolve around you. Children have as much a right to exist here, on Earth, as you do, and, being people, should be welcome in this most mundane of places, the grocery store. If allowing a child to ride in a child-designed grocery cart is annoying to you, I suggest you stay home and have your groceries delivered. Or pay someone else to do it. Or starve. > > Why people think that children–CHILDREN!, which is what people start out as, after all–are some class of beast to be scorned and ridiculed when they aren’t standing mute and unbreathing – or better yet – cease to exist at all when you, The Pinnacle of All that Exists, _the single person unburdend by \ children!!_ arrives on the scene, just absolutely slays me. They should be trained to behave themselves, to be sure, but here’s another news flash: sometimes they don’t. Life works like that. Sometimes things go great, sometimes it’s a challenge or a chore. Get used to it. Way to completely miss the point there. The OP was annoyed not with the children, but with inconsiderate and selfish parents. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/30 "2006-02-15T20:07:58Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Way to completely miss the point there. > > The OP was annoyed not with the children, but with inconsiderate and selfish parents. Bah. See " Pookie-Ookums," above. The OP doesn’t want the damn kids anywhere near him/her. Parents who let the kid ride are indulgent and the child itself is king. Um, no–we’re just parents with kids and we’re taking them to the store. Perhaps I’m off the exact point of this rant, but what bothers me is this contemptuous tone used regarding children and parents. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/31 "2006-02-15T20:31:55Z")
Ugh, the grocery store is the the prime example of “hell is other people”! Cart blockers are the worst and I really don’t get how people can NOT see me (and others) trying to get by. Since these SUV sized carts have come along, it’s even worse. Occasionally I’ll bring my son to the store and, guess what? I want to kill him! He’s 7 and is too big for the SUVs but he tries to steer the cart, begs for shit, and wanders in front of other people like they’re invisible. And, I’ll tell you what, the next time he begs for devil dogs, I’m going to tell him that they’re why his ass is to fat to fit in the fun cart. It’s going to be nasty. Mostly I leave him home or pick him up late from his after school program on grocery day. It’s for the best. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/32 "2006-02-15T20:41:49Z")
> [@Ellen Cherry](#): > > Bah. See " Pookie-Ookums," above. The OP doesn’t want the damn kids anywhere near him/her. Parents who let the kid ride are indulgent and the child itself is king. Um, no–we’re just parents with kids and we’re taking them to the store. > > Perhaps I’m off the exact point of this rant, but what bothers me is this contemptuous tone used regarding children and parents. I’m sorry, but anyone who stops their cart in the middle of an isle of the grocery store, next to another cart going the other direction and proceeds to _feed their child lunch_ is beyond rude. I don’t care _what_ the OP’s reaction was or what he could’ve said to her, she was being a great big inconsiderate ass. People like her make me absolutely dread going grocery shopping. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/33 "2006-02-15T20:46:27Z")
One day I will start a pit thread about retired people who shop on Saturday and not with their 45 year old son, but alone. ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/34 "2006-02-15T21:02:39Z")
I wasn’t going to respond to this thread (because it’s more about rude people then parents) until this: > [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > On a side note, if and when I have kids, I will never bring them to the grocery store. Their father will watch them while I shop. Bringing kids to the store is a BAD IDEA for everyone. I can understand that some single parents must do it, but for those who have a spouse, why take the kids to the store? I don’t get it. How about because we shop WITH our spouse. My wife and I almost always go shopping together, with our (please forgive us) two children. Why? Because we, A:both cook and don’t always know what the other needs for a specific recipe we’re planning; and B:we like spending whatever time we can with each other and our kids. With our hours, sometimes we only have an hour or two each day that we can spend together. If that hour or two is at the store, oh well. We don’t block anybody and our kids our well behaved (OK…usually well behaved.) Sorry if you don’t get the idea that some families LIKE to spend whatever time they can together, but we’ll continue to do it. - DESK ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/35 "2006-02-15T21:05:37Z")
> [@Ellen Cherry](#): > > Bah. See " Pookie-Ookums," above. The OP doesn’t want the damn kids anywhere near him/her. Parents who let the kid ride are indulgent and the child itself is king. Um, no–we’re just parents with kids and we’re taking them to the store. > > Perhaps I’m off the exact point of this rant, but what bothers me is this contemptuous tone used regarding children and parents. Fuckin’ A, did you read anything in the OP besides “pookie-ookums,” or did your brain just go into vapor lock as soon as you saw the mention of a child in a pit thread, regardless of what was actually being said about the kid? Next time, try to pay attention to context, leave your issues at the newsstand, and stop feeding your damn kid in the middle of the aisle in the grocery store. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/36 "2006-02-15T21:06:37Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > I’m not incredibly fond of pushing my kids around in those things, since they steer like Mack trucks and weigh a ton. OTOH, the kids are thrilled with the things, and it keeps them from running down aisles and even from asking for every other junk food item they see. Really? I find them much more maneuverable than the typical cart. The ones at the stores near me have three sets of wheels and I can pivot the cart on the center wheels for hairpin turns. The kids enjoy them, but most of our shopping is done at a store with a “supervised play area” for the kids, so we don’t use the carts all that much. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/37 "2006-02-15T21:10:32Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > Really? I find them much more maneuverable than the typical cart. The ones at the stores near me have three sets of wheels and I can pivot the cart on the center wheels for hairpin turns. The kids enjoy them, but most of our shopping is done at a store with a “supervised play area” for the kids, so we don’t use the carts all that much. > > Enjoy, > Steven Ours aren’t like that. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/38 "2006-02-15T21:11:03Z")
I’ve been thinking about this, and it occurs to me - why \*wouldn’t \* you bring your child to the grocery store? How else are you supposed to teach him proper manners in the store? And as others have mentioned, mostly the kids don’t bother people, it’s inconsiderate shoppers. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/39 "2006-02-15T21:13:43Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I’ve been thinking about this, and it occurs to me - why \*wouldn’t \* you bring your child to the grocery store? How else are you supposed to teach him proper manners in the store? And as others have mentioned, mostly the kids don’t bother people, it’s inconsiderate shoppers. For me, aside from what I posted above, it’s so I can have some time alone. I’m sure he won’t beg his wife for devil dogs or cut in front of people when he’s a big man. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600/40 "2006-02-15T21:16:23Z")
I’m another who thinks the problem isn’t the larger shopping carts, but those shoppers who don’t pay attention to others around them. Likewise, the little carts can be very effective for keeping Junior under control, if the parent/guardian is willing to make the effort to police Jr’s actions. It’s the ones who don’t pay attention to others that bother me. And that’s behavior that exists irrespectively of the kind of cart the nominally responsible person is using. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-suv-sized-shopping-cart-kiddie-cars-and-the-parents-who-use-them/344600.md?page=3)