Things with wheels on

The BBQ Pit
21

Woo! Cart surfing!

'Round these parts the Publix carts outdo the Kroger carts because of the height of the foothold. On Publix carts, the bar is set just above the back wheels, providing a good platform for standing while riding down an aisle or through the parking lot. Kroger carts have the bar set maybe six inches above the level of the wheels, creating a dangerously high center of mass, and possibly creating enough torque on the frame to cause the cart (if the rider is heavy enough) to flip over backwards (a la Obsidian Butterfly) even with some cart loading.

Granted, with a full load, the cart wouldn’t flip, but it’s still not as cool, having to stand up so high.

The aisles at the Whole Foods aren’t wide enough for this sort of activity, and I don’t generally go to department stores like Target when I have a cartload of shopping to do, so my experience with other carts is limited. Anyone else care to weigh in with the road worthiness of other carts?

I try to avoid Wal-Mart, but when I used to shop at the Sam’s club, the carts were quite nice, and when coupled with the wide aisles and smooth floors of the giant warehouse store…Well, fun wasn’t hard to find. I assume they probably use the same kind of carts at Wal-Mart, but I haven’t been there in years.

Ah, such fun. I actually go out of my way to go shopping at Publix so I can cart surf. Hee hee. I think I need a few things…

22

OK, I will tell my Safeway story,
Years ago I was driving a beat up 1969 Ford pickup (it had a nice, square and flat front end) and there was a large drainage ditch next to the store (do the math, quick!), so after shopping I would place the cart at the front of my truck, get in and head for the ditch picking up speed the whole time, at about 25 MPH, I would get on the brakes and watch the cart bounding towards the ditch, it would hit the curb at the edge of the lot and launch itself into the air spinnig and twisting before plunging into the ditch, judging from the pile of carts in the ditch I was not alone in this “sport”, it was hugely entertaining!

unclviny

23

Giant uses ordinary carts, at least around here. I’ve found my daughter’s laughter to be positively intoxicating when we find an empty aisle or scream through the parking lot with a cry of “Let’s GO!” Then again-she loves it when I bounce loaves of bread off her head and into the cart after calling “INCOMING”. I’m just a warped Dad.

24

Hrm. I almost always use the cart as a scooter when I’m in the grocery store. I always thought it was a law that you had to…

25

I fully support cart-surfing, but for god’s sake be careful. I hit a bread rack once, and incurred some seriously painful groin-pummeling.