# Who steals shopping carts?! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 13, 2006, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576 "2006-05-13T01:24:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/21 "2006-05-13T05:58:19Z")
> [@neofishboy](#): > > As a former meat-cutter I feel I should warn that this course of action can often go weird and unexpected places. In my experience a sharp, loud _Hanna-Barbera_-style pterodactyl scream, if delivered with skill and the proper attitude (lots of volume … BIG BIG EYES!) will tend to resolve most conflicts in a retail situation. I’m not sure I’m following here. The only time I ever saw Hanna-Barbera pterodactyls, they were either being used as airliners or (small versions) hedge trimmers. And they never screamed, they just sort of whined about what a crappy job they had. Wait a minute. These aren’t _Land of the Lost_ pterodactyls, are they? ---
**Author:** ![Denis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5e9695/32.png) [@Denis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Denis)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/22 "2006-05-13T06:55:06Z")
Well, if we’re gonna do Hanna-Barbera and more particulary, _Land of the Lost_, I’d rather go sleestak on a cart thief. Weird 'em the fuck out. Don’t we have a poster named sleestak? ---
**Author:** ![Denis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5e9695/32.png) [@Denis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Denis)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/23 "2006-05-13T06:59:33Z")
::searching:: Yes, we do! ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/24 "2006-05-13T13:35:33Z")
She wasn’t crazy, she just grabbed the wrong cart and then was too embarrassed–and stubborn–to back down and say, “oops!” when you said hey. And lazy, yeah. Because then she would’ve had to either go find her own cart, or start over. ---
**Author:** ![Hogwash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e57/32.png) [@Hogwash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogwash)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/25 "2006-05-13T14:24:08Z")
Only fuckin’ pobes are capable of stealing shopping carts. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/26 "2006-05-13T14:29:57Z")
> [@pool](#): > > I would have taken it back, but thats just me. Me too. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/27 "2006-05-13T14:50:45Z")
Hey, you dodged a real live crazy person. Count yourself fortunate it could have been much, much worse. Letting her have the cart was by far the best solution. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/28 "2006-05-13T14:54:56Z")
> [@Hogwash](#): > > Only fuckin’ pobes are capable of stealing shopping carts. Fucking pobes! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/29 "2006-05-13T15:05:05Z")
Only pobes who are shopping for stupid food for breakfast steal shopping carts. ---
**Author:** ![Shadez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Shadez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadez)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/30 "2006-05-13T16:32:02Z")
Count me as another person that can’t believe you didn’t take back the cart. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/31 "2006-05-13T16:52:57Z")
> [@Frosted Glass](#): > > However, I did have a feeling that getting kicked out of the supermarket for pelting a soccer mom with snack cakes would not have been a good way to spend my afternoon. Are you kidding?? What the fuck else are you going to do that’s more fun? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/32 "2006-05-13T17:47:02Z")
> [@Frosted Glass](#): > > However, I did have a feeling that getting kicked out of the supermarket for pelting a soccer mom with snack cakes would not have been a good way to spend my afternoon. Sno-balls have a nice heft to them, as do Ho-hos. Stay away from individual fruit pies, because they have corners and can cause damage. You just want to drive the crazy person away, not hurt her. (Although, if the latter **is** your aim, so to speak, I recommend Brazilian corned beef. Those cans fit nicely in the palm, and you can get a good curveball working.) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/33 "2006-05-13T19:06:43Z")
I’m surprised no one else has mentioned this. If it was me, I would have followed her around the store. As long as you do that, she most likely won’t put anything back in an attempt to save face, I would have enjoyed watching her checking out with all my gorceries, and watching over her shoulder the whole time to get rid of my items when I wasn’t looking. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/34 "2006-05-13T22:02:04Z")
Try working retail when you have a cartful of crap to put back on the shelves, are called away for five minutes, and when you return the stuff you had in the cart is all on the floor and the cart is gone. Yep. Seriously. It happens. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/35 "2006-05-13T22:27:11Z")
> [@Frosted Glass](#): > > Who the hell steals shopping carts with unpaid groceries in them?! I don’t know if it’s possiable to steal groceries while still in the store, and you eventually pay for them. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/36 "2006-05-13T23:10:17Z")
Waay back when Mrs. Nott worked in a supermarket, they had a rash of those, about once a week. They told the stockboys to watch for it, and they caught the guy. It turned out his wife would send him to the store with a list. He’d go to a bar and slug down rum & Cokes for about an hour, then rush to the store. He’d grab an unattended cart and go check out. His wife was always peeved that he seemed to pay no attention to the list. ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/37 "2006-05-14T06:03:54Z")
This sounds like a new fun hobby. We’re always trying to decide on what to eat for dinner and end up eating the same old things. Now I could just go pot-luck at the grocery store, genius. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/38 "2006-05-14T07:42:52Z")
> [@Bob Scene](#): > > Vitamins can be really expensive. A $15 box of vitamins is really easy to slip into someone’s cart without them noticing. My brother used to pull that when we were kids (60’s & 70’s. Before the super mega grocery stores). When we were bored waiting for our parents shopping he’d put stuff in other peoples carts. I remember once he put some expensive candy in a ladies cart who had a kid with her. When she discovered the candy at the checkout she clouted the kid right then & there for trying to pull a fast one on her. (this was back when you could still smack your kid in public and get away with it). You could hear the kid bawling through out the store 'I didn’t do it! I didn’t do it" coupled with the woman yelling “don’t you lie to me you little sneak!” We laughed so hard we almost choked on the candy we stole out of the pickamix bin. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/39 "2006-05-14T12:42:52Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > My brother used to pull that when we were kids (60’s & 70’s. Before the super mega grocery stores). When we were bored waiting for our parents shopping he’d put stuff in other peoples carts. I remember once he put some expensive candy in a ladies cart who had a kid with her. When she discovered the candy at the checkout she clouted the kid right then & there for trying to pull a fast one on her. (this was back when you could still smack your kid in public and get away with it). You could hear the kid bawling through out the store 'I didn’t do it! I didn’t do it" coupled with the woman yelling “don’t you lie to me you little sneak!” > > We laughed so hard we almost choked on the candy we stole out of the pickamix bin. That’s fucked up. If I may say so. For all those who say they would have taken the cart back: Really? You would have wrestled the grocery cart away from the crazy person? I hear they bite when threatened. I wouldn’t risk it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![IGJoe1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e9bcb4/32.png) [@IGJoe1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IGJoe1)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576/40 "2006-05-14T14:06:11Z")
What would have been really embarassing would have be to escalate the argument over the cart only to realize it wasn’t yours. I did that at Walmart one time. Walked away from the cart for about 2 minutes, came back to where I thought it was to find a lady with mostly the same items as I had. I started to confront her about taking my cart and just before things got hot I spied my cart out of the corner of my eye about 2 aisles down … many apologies later I still felt like a total @ss. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-steals-shopping-carts/356576.md?page=3)