Miller We aren’t saying return the carts clear to the STORE, we are saying put the carts in those little “corrals” outside the store! You know, those odd “metal fence” enclosures that take up about a parking space? They are all over the parking lot at various grocery and discount stores. They often have signs on them that say “Please return carts here”. Heck, I bet if you look next time you go to your local discount store, you’ll see an employee taking carts out of the corral to bring into the store. Now do you finally fully comprehend what we are saying?
Y’all are gonna fuckin love me then. I always take a cart into the store (Wal-mart)from the parking lot to shop with. I figure it gets one more outta the way and helps somebody else in the process. I also usually park close to a corral or near the front of the store. I’ll often gather a few buggies and corral and/or push them to the store depending on the situation. (I had that job many years ago and I remember what a pain in the ass it is to round up stray buggies at midnight, across the street, out in the grass, turned over, behind the store, etc.
I also recall what fun we had as kids taking the baskets off them and making gro-carts to ride down the big hill behind the school.) 
As far as the grocery stores here and their carts, it’s not a problem. All the grocery stores have someone bag your stuff, put it into a cart and follow you to your car, put the bags where you tell them to and then take the cart back into the store AND they won’t allow tips.
How’s that for service. 
At the grocery store where I shop, it would be nearly impossible to bag your own groceries. The conveyor belt ends at the place where they scan your stuff, and then right there at the edge of that is where the bags are, pretty much right at the cashier’s belly. They pick up your item off the belt, wave it at the scanner, and drop it into the bag. In order to bag my own things, I’d have to reach around between the cashier and the conveyor belt and grab things out of their hands, only to place them in the bag that is right below their hands.
But hey, if you really think I should… 
Well, generally speaking there isn’t a sign asking you to bag your own groceries [except at certain discount grocery stores where you are expected to bag your own and the lanes are set up with that in mind], while there usually IS a sign requesting you return the carts to the proper location.
As for me, I return carts 99% of the time. If it’s really, really cold or icy and I’m not parked relatively close to either the store entrance or the corral, I will on occasion leave the cart behind. I always try to make sure it isn’t blocking anything or in danger of straying in the wind… and I also always feel a bit guilty. But the vast, vast, vast majority of the time I either return the cart to the corral, return the cart to the front of the store, or take the bags out of the cart and carry them to the car sans cart.
Fascinating bit of trivia (ok not really that fascinating):
When I first moved here to Northern VA almost all of the grocery stores had pillars around the store entrance that prevented you from taking the carts into the parking lot. We thought this was annoying and bizarre. Since then, most of the stores have removed these and now allow carts into the parking lots. There are two Giant Foods near our house. One is in a relatively small shopping center, and it has corrals in the parking lot. The other is in a much larger shopping center, with a much larger parking lot, and it has no corrals. You have to walk the cart back to the store. It always seemed weird to me that the place with the bigger parking lot didn’t have the corrals…
I’ve worked at Wal-Mart. And, in the area of the country in which I live, the Wal-Mart stores have people who were hired exclusively to gather up the carts. And I know, from having spoken with these people, that they appreciate it when the carts are returned to the corrals. It makes their job easier.
That said, however, just because they are paid to gather carts doesn’t give ANYONE (excluding people with medical conditions that make it difficult) the right to be a pain in the ass, and make their jobs harder for them.
After all, everyone prefers to be able to go about their job efficiently. Go ask a doctor if they’d prefer to see a patient who wouldn’t give any info about their particular medical bug without being interrogated, or whether they’d prefer someone who is willing to work with them. Their job is to help heal the sick, after all. I mean, why should you have to work hard and tire your poor lil tongue out to make their job easier? They should be able to tell what’s wrong with you (and, by the way, Bill, I’m thinking there’s a LOT wrong with you) without you being all helpful, and tellin’ 'em, and stuff.
Maybe it’s not your JOB to put the carts in the corral, Bill. But it’s just human fucking decency. I guess it’s just out of your reach to be a fucking decent human being.
Mostly I do put the carts back in the corral, but there are times I don’t. For instance, some have mentioned having the things all over the place. Our Walmart has a couple on each of the first three rows and they are all fairly close to the front of the lot. the local grocery store, even fewer. On busy shopping days when you have to park out in plumb nearly, you don’t feel like making a half-mile hike to the front of the lot! And they get full to overflowing on those busy days too, which shows that if they want people to use them, they need to empty them a bit more often. After all, I could put the cart in a safer place than a cart corral that runneth over!
And hats off to those who tote their darlings around in those car seats. I had very big babies that nearly pulled my arms from their sockets when I carried them in those things. In fact, my son was so heavy that I routinely had to have my right elbow adjusted by my chiroprator because of the pain. So when I had him, I either parked close to the corral, or I left the cart in as safe a place as possible, because carrying him around was really difficult. When he learned to walk well enough so that I could hold his hand, that was a different story.
I still have to say that returning carts is a courtesy, not a requirement. That said, performing such courtesies should be something none of us resent, or make excuses for not doing. How much does it really cost us, after all?
Except for the couple of times when I have failed to return a cart, failing to return a cart is morally heinous.
So the lack of a sign, to you, indicates that there is no reason for you to use the corral? The store just put it out there for kicks? That the fact that other people put their carts into the corrals regardless of the presence of a sign requesting that they do so were just suckers?
Oh for the love of god! It’s just human decency? Failing to return a cart doesn’t make you a decent human being?
Get a grip, people. It’s not that big of a fucking deal. Yeah, you should return your cart. The world, however, is not going to stop turning if you don’t.
Why don’t ya’ll save some of your angst for people that acutally deserve it. You know, for those bastards who take their sweet ass time putting each coin in it’s correct compartment when they’re done paying, that gab on their cell phones in the middle of the isles, that kick puppies… You know, the really bad shit.
Getting this worked up over someone not disposing of their cart in the correct designated area is just silly.
[sub]Please note, I’m not condoning the behavior, merely pointing out that the overreactions in this thread have gone beyond humorous and are approaching downright insanity…[/sub]
No. But deliberately being a cocksocket about it DOES.
I can’t fathom how anyone (except those with sufficient medical problems - and, before the question is asked, I’m not advocating some sort of armed guards checking paperwork at the A&P to see who qualifies. If you can put the cart where it goes, you fucking know you can) can take such a holier-than-thou attitude because it’s someone else’s fucking job. Big deal.
My point is this: The OP says it’s not his job to put the cart up. I’ll concede this. However, that doesn’t mean that it gives him a right to be a pain in the ass to the people who would appreciate the little extra effort that helps make their jobs easier. Why should someone else have to work harder because this cocksucker in the OP can’t be bothered?
And I can’t fathom where you’re making the connection between failing to return a cart to it’s proper drop off point equals having a “holier-than-thou” attitude or “deliberately being a cocksocket about it”
There are a ton of reasons why someone may not bring their cart back to either the corral or the store itself. Since your reading comprehension seems to be on par with a gnat, the OP had her hands full with small children. So she’s a “cocksocket” now? Wow, you’re hard to please, aren’t ya? Other people choose not to trek the half mile across the parking lot in the pouring rain or other incliment weather. Still others may just be lazy, be in a rush, a variety of factors.
Your indication that anyone without a doctors note who doesn’t return their carts is an indecent human being is ludicrous. It’s not as if they’re cackling madly to themselves as they push the cart onto the curb so it doesn’t blow away, saying "dance cartboy, DANCE!"
Methinks you’ve got a bit of an inferiority complex. And that, for damn sure, is not our problem.
I never knew it was expected of me to put the cart back. I do it, usually, when the corrall isn’t over flowing, just cause I hate leaving them in parking spots. But if its raining, or I’m far away, I don’t.
I was a cart collecter, and it was the best job! Smoke when you want, didn’t have to dress up like the cashiers, get to be out side. It was a promotion from bagger to cart guy, in terms of prestige (as much prestige as a 15 yr olds job has). Hell, we were supposed to STOP people from bringing their carts back, cause thats what we were paid for. The store is still there, still has the same policy.
My supermarket (Publix) has an odd solution to the cart issue. There are no corrals in the lot, which can be annoying if you’ve had to park fairly far out. However, nine times out of ten, the (generally elderly) bagger will wheel your cart out to your car for you. After he helps you unload your groceries, he brings the cart back to the store. There are signs up indicating that this is a service provided by the store and that tipping isn’t allowed. I find it to be somewhat awkward, since I’m usually less than half the age of the bagger.
On the topic of bizarre things happening at south Florida supermarkets, the Publix in Palm Beach has valet parking. :eek:
The other day I came out of the store too see that a cart had rolled into the back of my Sportage and left a pretty hefty scratch. You can bet your ass I filed a claim with my insurance. You can also bet your ass that my claim helps increase insurance rates.
Thanks a lot, lazy fucking assholes.
Personally, I shop at the local Knob Hill grocer. The baggers walk you and the cart out to your car, help you stuff the stuff in your trunk, and then trundle the cart back into the store. No muss, no fuss, and there’s zero empty carts in the parking lot.
And when I’m at the Home Depot or wherever, most times I’ll take the cart back to the store or corral. Most times.
It’s not necessarily about what’s said, but the tone in which it’s said. Something my mother taught me when I was a child. Sometimes, it’s how you say things.
I’ll admit that inflection is difficult to infer in a medium such as this. Perhaps there was an element of subtlety that I missed.
And, as other people have noted, children isn’t always mutually exclusive with not being able to do something because you don’t want to be personally inconvenienced. We should allow someone a free pass because they forgot to put their diaphragm in?
However, my reading comprehension is just fine, thank you. I read where there were children involved. I just don’t think that a person should get a “get out of jail free” card because they procreated. In other words, in case YOUR reading comprehension isn’t quite up to scratch, BIG FUCKING DEAL.
If she can’t be bothered to return a shopping cart (remember that? That’s what this whole thing is about! A miniscule little topic to some), then, yes. She is being a cocksocket.
Yep. But I fail to see the relevance. After all, this isn’t about me. This is about this magical fantasy world in which you live because someone getting drunk and screwing without a condom gives them a free pass from any type of civility that might personally inconvenience them for a few seconds. And those seconds would make someone’s job easier. In fact, because I had nothing to do today, I was walking around Wal-Mart. Recalling this conversation, I asked their cart-pushers which they preferred: Walking the entire lot, collecting carts, or being able to get them directly from the corral. NOT A SINGLE PERSON SAID THEY PREFERRED THE NON-CORRAL WAY. I’ll concede that 5 people is a small sample size. But the fact that not a single one had a differing opinion also indicated that they appreciate being able to do their job with efficiency. And that they DON’T appreciate having to work harder because someone else couldn’t give two flying shits.
And we should excuse these people, too? Because someone’s a lazy bastard, or…ooh! Ooh! They’re too fucking busy! Sorry. Unless you’re a transplant surgeon, or waiting for a transplant yourself, then generally, you’re not too fucking busy.
[quote]
Your indication that anyone without a doctors note who doesn’t return their carts is an indecent human being is ludicrous. It’s not as if they’re cackling madly to themselves as they push the cart onto the curb so it doesn’t blow away, saying "dance cartboy, DANCE!"
So far as you know, they’re not. That was sarcasm, by the way.
I realize that you may think I made gross generalizations. Tough. I realize that I generalized, but, as is often the case when I generalize, I don’t care. That’s kinda part of the point of generalizing. After all, let’s go the next step, and admit that stereotypes admit for a reason, while we’re at it.
Well, at the risk of sounding inferior, I couldn’t give a shit less what you think of me. This is my opinion. Your mileage, of course, may vary.
I admit that it sounds like I’m jumping up on a soapbox and damning people who don’t return carts to spend eternity in hell. In fact, I just feel passionate about doing little things for other people. I firmly believe in the concept of karma. Do something nice for someone, and nice things happen to you. That sounds simplistic, but tough shit. It’s my credo, and it doesn’t have to have the same effect on you that it does on me.
The truth of the matter is that I find it difficult to see where any normal, everyday situation would make a person unable to expend the effort to make someone else’s job a little easier. We all do it. If you work in an office environment, then you’ve probably had to ask someone to grab something off of the fax machine or printer while they’re up. They’re making your job a little easier, because you don’t have to get up. After all, they’re up anyway.
I think it’s “ludicrous” (your word, not mine) that people don’t do the occasional thing to make someone’s day easier. Hell, I generally leave about $3.00 a day in pay phones. You never know when someone’s going to need a quarter, and not have one.
So far as you know, they’re not. That was sarcasm, by the way.
I realize that you may think I made gross generalizations. Tough. I realize that I generalized, but, as is often the case when I generalize, I don’t care. That’s kinda part of the point of generalizing. After all, let’s go the next step, and admit that stereotypes admit for a reason, while we’re at it.
Well, at the risk of sounding inferior, I couldn’t give a shit less what you think of me. This is my opinion. Your mileage, of course, may vary.
Fixing the coding in part of that reply.
I think you just viewed the OP’s post through some seriously resent-tinted glasses, is all. It appeared to me as if she honestly didn’t realize how big of a deal some people thought this issue was. That’s beside the point, though. I made reference to the OP because you kept doing it. I’m speaking from my point of view here. I do not have children, nor do I make a habit of not returning my cart. I do however, occasionally, fail to do this. I hardly feel as if I’m headed straight for hell for this failure. Obviously, your opinion differs.
Okay, I’m going to side-step that ridiculous diaphragm comment because #1, the OP was babysitting (there’s that damn reading comphrension problem again) and #2 the concept that all children are the result of failed birth control has fuck-all to do with the topic at hand. That’s a can of worms for a whole 'nother thread.
I beg to differ. See babysitting comment above. See, where we differ is that you see not returning a cart not being a big deal as a “get out of jail free” card. I see it as just one of those things. You should hold the door open for people. That’s common courtesy. However, if for any random reason you fail to do this, do you require a “get out of jail free” card in order to avoid being considered sub-human? Not hardly. Failure to perform courtesies does not equate to being an asshole.
Hey, you’re the one going on about the whole children issue. As to the rest of this comment, see above.
Whoah whoah whoah! First off, I don’t have kids. Second, that sounds like a fabulous little survey you conducted. Unfortunately, it’s meaningless. Of COURSE cart collectors would prefer carts to be in the corrals. That’s a give in. Not one person here has said they don’t return carts because they think the cart collectors would rather it be that way. Now you’re just making up shit. Most people who admitted to failing to return carts said that they didn’t do it often, usually had some sort of reason when they did, or didn’t even realize it was a huge deal.
Sigh See above comment.
Riiiight. Maybe in your little paranoid world. Here on Earth, it’s truly not some sort of vast conspiracy watch the cart gatherers scramble while getting some sort of sadistic glee.
Well isn’t this the pot calling the kettle black. Who’s generalising more here? The person who is saying that there may be some instances where failing to return a cart doesn’t make someone the spawn of satan, or the person who says that it does?
Oh, but I think you do. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be responding.
Yup, that’s exactly what it sounds like. Hey, I believe in karma too. That’s why I always try to treat others how I would like to be treated and so forth. That includes not judging people on such silliness as failure to return a shopping cart. Life’s too short to get your panties in a wad over such petty things.
Yeah, that’s great. And as far as you know, maybe one of these people who don’t return carts or like myself, occasionally fail to return carts ARE one of those people? Ever think of that? Maybe they just don’t think it’s a big deal. Maybe they never think of it. Maybe they have extenuating circumstances. My point is, you don’t know. Therefore, the kind of harsh judgment you’ve espoused throughout this thread seems a bit over-the-top. That’s been my point through this whole thread.
Like I said before, they could do the occasional thing. How the hell do you know? You’re judging their entire worth as a human on one solitary action. As far as your payphone charity goes, that’s great. Perhaps all that money can go towards clearing all the negative karma you’ve gotten for yourself through all of your overly harsh judgment of people in this thread.
Here’s to hoping.
Okay, I’m no saint.
If the cart return is reasonably close to my car, I try to use it. If it’s too far away, I push my cart to the nearest other abandoned cart and connect them. This means my cart doesn’t take up too much extra space, and it makes it harder for both carts to run into things. Also, if the parking lot has little planters then if there are no cart returns nearby I try to get my cart over the edge of the planter to keep it from rolling around or taking up a parking space. I understand it’s still a PITA for the cart guys, but I try within reason to make it somewhat easier with the pairing up with other carts or pushing it to a logical spot, rather than leaving it in a random spot. Another trick (for those really empty lots, devoid of cart returns AND planters) is to push it to the top of the space and turn it sideways, so that at least compact cars can still comfortably use the space.
Yeah, I’m a partial asshat. But only a partial one - at least I recognize that I SHOULD try to make it less difficult/dangerous in the parking lot. (And truthfully most stores HAVE returns within like 6 spaces of any given parking spot)
Bra-FUCKING-vo! The ONLY reason to not return the cart is laziness. Cart-boy will help you with your groceries, or you can leave the kids for half a minute. Kids get kidnapped that way? Yes. They also die in car accidents way more often, and you’re still driving them around in your car, aren’t you?
You mean there’s still some of us left?! (Admittedly, it’d never occur to me to leave money in a payphone, I save all my change to cash in at the Coinstar once a month and buy myself a couple new books. I’d happily help you out with some change if you asked me politely, though! grin)
Maybe all hope of a civilized society completely devoid of self-entitled assholes is not lost… ponders a minute
sigh Well, it was a pleasant thing to take a couple minutes to daydream about, at any rate.