…I not only return carts to the corrals, I take back the cold stuff I decided against buying!
So there. 
Yes, I do. It’s my lil’ kindness. 
If I am alone, I do, no matter how far it is.
If I have my kids with me, well, given a choice between:
- leaving my children unattended
- hauling them with me back through the parking lot to return the cart
- just leaving the cart in a place where it can’t interfere with the flow of traffic or block a parking space and is unlikely to roll away on it’s own
I choose #3 every time.
A new discount grocery opened near me recently, the bring your own bag type of store. I was amazed the first time I went to grab a cart, chained to all the other carts. I’d never heard of such a thing, immediately realized what a nifty idea it was and wondered why this hadn’t been implemented years ago.
Then felt like a boob trying to figure out how to insert my quarter to release the dumb thing. At the end of my shopping trip, I felt like the matching boob trying to replace the buggy in line with the others and get my coin back. :o
Same here, and I thought I was the only one.
I almost always do. About the only reason I won’t is if I have my daughter with me; I’m not leaving her unattended to put up a cart, nor do I expect anyone else to who has a child with them.
Abbie,
How do you get a cart to begin with?
Um, walk into the store?
Grab one on the way into the store?
Sheesh.
Can’t you do that in reverse?
I have a child and haven’t had the problem of putting carts back.
I load the groceries, lock the car, walk the cart to the corral. Take baby out. Walk back to car.
I’m just saying that because my car got hit by a cart. It sucked, big time.
You mean we’re not supposed to take the carts home with us? :smack:
Take it home for all I care.
Take it home and thread flowers and streamers on the sides and nickname it Lulu, for all I care.
Just don’t leave it where it will hit my car, dammit!
Yes. Every time. And I wish bleeding hemorrhoids on those who don’t.
I managed just fine with a baby, btw. I did it exactly like Bad News Baboon.
In Holland you have to use a 0,50 EURO coin and in Germany it’s a 1 EURO coin, so you have that extra incentive to return the cart (and I always do). If you don’t have the appropriate coinage you can get change from any of the cashiers. Also, some stores sell little plastic or metal “chips” which are exactly the right size, and can be used instead of the actual EURO coins.
I’m not Abbie, but I can answer this for me, anyway. I don’t do this because I have a baby and a very little toddler still. We walk the cart back, I now have to carry the baby on one hip, keys in the other, holding onto the wiggly toddler’s hand so he doesn’t dart out and get hit somewhere. Get to the car, and now I’ve got to load toddler into the car while holding baby (nigh impossible) or latch baby in with my back to the now unattended toddler in a busy lot (dangerous). It makes me nervous, and it’s a pain in the ass. I’d sooner leave them alone in the car while I slipped the cart back, which I’ve done before if the lot is near-empty and I can see clearly. In a busy lot with a blocked view though, I won’t leave them unattended.
I’ve never seen a place in a parking lot that fits the description of #3. Just bring your damn cart back!!!
- Other people manage.
- I know you leave your children out of your site at home when they’re playing…or when you’re peeing or something. Why would you be afraid to put them in the car and then take 30 seconds to return the cart?
I know there was a thread about this not too long ago. Some one who was a nanny (I think) started the thread wanting justification for not returning carts, and basically got dogpiled for it.
People suggested:
- parking closer to the corral, or 2. putting the kids in the car and locking it, and then returning the cart, or 3. leaving the kids in the cart while putting the groceries in the car, returning the cart with the kids, then taking the kids out and going back to the car.
I’ve got to run out, or I’d search for it.
If it’s relatively close, yes.
If the store has made it near impossible, nope.
Home Depot and Walmarts near me have a 27 acre lot and two return areas.
When kids are with me, almost never.
I always try to. But some stores seem to make it perversely difficult, and occasionally I just say “screw it” and leave it pushed into a corner or something.
For ages I felt guilty about taking the cart into the parking lot at all…
Yeah, but I still don’t understand.
Unless you park right next to a cart, didn’t you go through that hassle in the beginning?
Assuming that a cart is either in a corral or at the store (as Abbie pointed out):
You had to unlatch the toddler and then unlatch the baby (leaving said toddler unattended) then walk to get a cart, right? Basically, it comes down to the process being a pain in the ass.
Much like getting my car repaired was… with a baby in tow.
Sorry to be pissy about it, really. I like my car and hate to see it messed up. It sucks to have to pay a small fortune for someone else’s “pain in the ass”.