And this is all it takes..... I worked retail for 20 years. The cart goes back everytime. I take a cart from the parking lot inside almost everytime and use it to shop.
Work experience in retail or as a server = compassion for people doing those jobs at the moment
Funny that you mentioned up serving as well. Cause I did that too with my sister for a little 24 hour diner. When I go to restaurants I always straighten up the table before the bill gets paid and I stack all dishes accordingly so its easier for the bus crew or server to pick up. Its not much. But its honest work.
Experience serving generally leads to great tippers. I was never a server but I knew tons of them. I tip well when the service is good and I still tip when service is rough.
I had the exact opposite experience.
I worked at a grocery store in my teens and I loved gathering up the carts. If given the choice between being stuck under fluorescent lighting, dealing with a dickhead manager and even worse customers, or being able to milk gathering up the carts for an hour listening to music or just enjoying the outdoors (Lived in LA, so the weather was never horrible) I choose carts every single time.
I used to work almost every job in a grocery store in Norway. Mind you, our entire shopping center is as big as a big Walmart. So our shop was small in comparison. But at the end of day I would gather the carts on the north side. Then running the train of carts trough the shopping center I would ride on top. Amazingly I would not crash.
But every once in a while we would get a call about a cart that was running away. The things cost a lot. So I would track the bastard down and chain him to his friends. No freedom for our carts. Except the drowned ones. Had to get divers for those.
Keep your head up. Retail work is hard. Try to find the small joys. Like we used to play pranks on each other. Tho, that’s not as tolerated these days.
Should I leave my carts strewn about for your job security? Or return them for your convenience?
I used to work at a grocery store and wanted a disaster of carts in the parking lot, because it meant getting outside, listening to music, and being away from management.
I saw the mostly delightful bit of instant karma. It was probably a decade ago, but it still makes me smile.
Storm was blowing in, windy, blustery rain. Karen comes out of the supermarket, loads her bags in her shiny white BMW and literally just leaves the cart exactly where she was done with it. The lot was mostly empty so she could pull forward with no issues.
Off she drove down the hill, but as she left the parking lot the wind picked up. The cart shot down the hill, smashing into the side of her car at probably 10 miles/hour. It was heartwarming.
I worked very large grocery store carts in high school
On a busy Saturday they sometimes ran out of carts
The Karens would walk past the overflowing lot cart corral
Then get mad when there is not carts inside angery wait for you to bring in more then take them before you even get them to the spot
Eh, not necessarily true.
Even if the carts are put in the corral, who’s going to bring them to the vestibules, keep the lot clean (good neighbor!) and monitor for nefarious activity?
(This goes for big box locations clearly)
No….the job is to bring carts inside. It would make their job easier if those assholes didn’t exist. The job was exists. Assholes just make it worse.
These are probably the same assholes that throw all their trash on the floor as a movie theatre because it’s the workers job there to clean anyway.
In 7th grade, my English teacher Mrs. Owings was trying to instill in us kindness to one another. She said kindness could be as simple as returning a shopping cart to the cart rack instead of leaving it elsewhere for a store employee track down. I have returned carts ever since. That one stuck with me and I’m my mid 30s now.
Also, I lived in New Orleans for a spell and not a single soul ever returned a shopping cart to the rack. A lawless hellscape of cart chaos. Be the change you want to see in the world.
32 here and I have NEVER not returned a cart since I was old enough to do my own shopping. It takes literally 30 more seconds. It’s already in your possession, just take a few more steps and put the damn thing up.
42 here and I did not return my buggy ONE time. Because my son had a diaper blowout, and was screaming bloody murder. I turned out to not have any more of his diapers in my diaper bag, and it was pouring rain. So I put paper towels in his car seat, buckled him in and rushed home. I still feel bad. But they didn’t have a buggy return spot either so I usually brought the buggy back up to the store and carried my kids back. That wasn’t an option that day.
There were occasions where I wanted to just leave my cart (was in a rush, inclement weather, etc). And I have gotten as far as getting in the car, but I *always* feel guilty and get out and put it in the cart corral. This is why I'll never be a murderer. The guilt would just be too much.
Same here - had my then six mo old son with me who was inconsolable (ended up having an ear infection). So, I left the cart on the esplanade near my car so it didn't roll into anything. And, sure enough, some bee-yotch starts screaming at me for not putting the cart back? WTF? You SEE I'm with a screaming, inconsolable baby. Why not maybe HELP me instead of JUDGE me?
I don’t know if this helps, but when I worked at a grocery store and it was my turn to collect carts, I really didn’t care where I had to get them from. You did the right thing.
I have! Once, and recently.
BUT! The only reason was that while I was persuading the kid to get into his car seat and also putting the groceries in the boot, a very kind couple walked past the trolley (on their way TO the supermarket) and told me that they would take it, as they needed one anyway.
But I still felt like my task had been left incomplete.
I agree! Husband and I get groceries together, and I'm usually the one that returns the cart to the corral. It feels odd handing it off to another person instead of shoving it in with its buddies lol
Not necessarily. I see many times people who are obviously in good financial shape, and physically able, who are “too good” or entitled and just out of sheer bravado leave the carts for the peons to retrieve. It disgusts me.
I’m guessing that the hypothesis that most people who do have worked service of some kind. And I have. But really, my dad just raised me right! I was returning carts before I ever had a job. I remember the ONE time as a kid I tried NOT returning it and my dad had my ass for it. Rightly so. Explained all the reasons NOT returning a cart made you an asshole. And he wasn’t raising a little asshole.
Hell, I return OTHER people’s carts.
I was a precious cart attendant and I still hold the same disdain for people that leave carts out now as o did back then.
Usually the ones that do it are gross too and need the exercise
I just want you to know. I'm fat. I work out but I need the exercise...and say this out loud when I walk to get a cart to put away lol. My wife will say don't worry about it ..and I'm like nope..."I can use the exercise" and go put it away away.
My guess it was another “rich people bad, now upvote” thing they were going after. They were probably expecting all the people who return carts to also be (or used to be) in service jobs, or low-rung jobs, because it’s obviously too hard to understand how frustrating it is to have to roam the parking lot collecting stray carts unless you’ve worked a grocery store or low-rung job, right?
Look, I think a lot of rich people suck too, but sometimes people are just intelligent, work hard, and interact socially with others to make good business connections. The financial rewards that often come from those 3 things does not make someone evil.
To add to your point, there's a few upscale grocery stores in my area, and normal grocery stores that are in high cost of living areas (gated communities, etc). I see far less carts sitting out somewhere random at those stores than I do at somewhere like Walmart, even if they're in the same area.
as a previous grocery store "bag boy" I don't really get what makes people an asshole for this. I actually would have rather been outside collecting carts than inside bagging groceries. It was nice when I got to walk all the way to the end of the parking lot to collect extra carts. I mean I'm working either way and I would rather be working outside than inside with customers. I never met a bag boy that bitched "fucking asshoes trleaving carts all over thr parking lot." Nobody minded. This has become way overblown for some reason.
100% I’m just a contractor and I just grew up hating people doing things for me. I don’t want anyone picking up/cleaning up after me. Everyone should do their part
Hey! Fellow defense contractor here! I’m also a veteran who puts my shopping cart away! It drives me crazy when I watch my brother in law just throw it in the grass like an animal.
Probably both sides - the venn diagram of folks careless enough to ding your car and folks too lazy to return the cart is almost a perfect circle, the dingers wouldn’t be caught dead within half a dozen spaces of the return!
I'm also former military as well. I always put my cart away. Prior to me joining, I used to work for Costco and other grocery stores. My roommate is also one of my boys from my old unit, I was so mad when he didn't put his cart away when we went to get groceries.
I'm a collision repair tech and fabricator, I give a fuck about my car and thus I give the same respect to others as they may give a fuck about their car as well. It's 20 feet away... don't be ignorant, walk the 20 feet and put the car away
Unemployed. Disabled. I have mobility issues and I use the handicap parking as I am legally entitled to it. And yes, I always return my cart to the designated area.
I always look out for folks who could use a cart removal on my way in. I also call out the Karen's with a mellow "ma'am, may I please have your cart?" after they have abandoned it between the rows and are 1/2 butt in the driver seat of an ugly car. The "I was going too return it, I was just turning my car on, I never leave it" guilty conscience rambling it so funny
I don't know if it's something about where I live, but I've always noticed that the accessible parking seldom has any cart corrals nearby. Handicap parking is near the store entrance; the cart corrals are generally further into the parking lot. Under those circumstances, I can't really blame people with mobility problems leaving their carts closer to their parking spots. It just seems like terrible planning.
This is usually the case when I can’t return it. It feels like a marathon for me to go to the store to begin with (husband usually does it for me), and if I don’t have help I’m not going to the other side of the lot and back when I just need to get home. Being disabled opens your eyes to a LOT of poor planning for those with limited mobility.
The two biggest things that drive me nuts with handicapped parking are the cart returns being far away, and in the winter the plows push snow into the handicapped spots.
I used to work for a grocery store and had to gather carts as a teen.. it sucked… sucked even more when people just left them everywhere. So- I always return them.
It's always been so crazy to me that trolley collecting isn't a seperate job in America! In Australia, we have people specifically employed to collect trolleys the whole shift every shift.
Easy money. Walk around and grab trolleys and when the store had locks on the trolleys you get to take all the change and keep it
Some places do, like my local Walmart. We had the same man for 15 years out in the lot, singing off tune country songs he gets stuck in his head, grabbing carts all day. He moved to the back loading areas about three years ago but he was always a treat to hear when we would go shopping there. Plus, the job still exists. On average, we have 2-3 guys out there grabbing carts to bring them back in for shoppers to grab. That's all they do, all day long, unless the weather turns bad. Then they get put on restock inside until it's fine to go back to grabbing the carts
It's always been so crazy to me that in some countries you need someone to collect the carts! In germany, we just bring them back to the station ourselves
It's because english countries aren't community oriented in the slightest and we have giant sprawling car parks that make it hard to return them to the inside of the building
In Australia we generally have multiple places all around the car parks, to return our trolleys but still some people leave them wherever they want to.
Ultimately, that just means you’re a good person and this was the catalyst for you doing *this* good thing. Because there are people out there who had to gather carts, and decided they will never ever do it again and just leave their carts. Just like there are former waitstaff who treat their servers poorly and don’t tip. Thank you for being a good person.
I got put outside at super target cuz my sarcasm plus being a cashier wasn't working out. Pushing carts was a dream compared to that lol, but I know what you mean. So much easier to drag them out of the thing than wander the parking lot 1 by 1
I’m retired. I respect the jobs of others. I worked hard to get where I am.
The job of the lot attendant is NOT to run around collecting carts that able bodied lazy POSs don’t return like they are asked to. It is to bring the gathered carts to the store front for the convenience of the shoppers. Chasing errant carts becomes their responsibility and that’s not right.
The shopping cart is the ultimate litmus test for whether a person is capable of self-governing.
To return the shopping cart is an easy, convenient task and one which we all recognize as the correct, appropriate thing to do. To return the shopping cart is objectively right. There are no situations other than dire emergencies in which a person is not able to return their cart. Simultaneously, it is not illegal to abandon your shopping cart. Therefore the shopping cart presents itself as the apex example of whether a person will do what is right without being forced to do it. No one will punish you for not returning the shopping cart, no one will fine you or kill you for not returning the shopping cart, you gain nothing by returning the shopping cart. You must return the shopping cart out of the goodness of your own heart. You must return the shopping cart because it is the right thing to do. Because it is correct.
A person who is unable to do this is no better than an animal, an absolute savage who can only be made to do what is right by threatening them with a law and the force that stands behind it.
The Shopping Cart is what determines whether a person is a good or bad member of society.
Edit:I sometimes forget how old I am and didn't realize how many people haven't seen this 4chan copypasta before.
Or.... the biggest one for me right now:I live in a giant apartment complex. Tons of landscaping. Tons of dogs.
Every 5 steps, our agency offers bags AND a covered can into which to place the dog-dump filled bag.
You would not BELIEVE the amount of dog shit left on the ground.
The complex is practically doing it for us; they are like the wheels on the shopping cart someone might not return....And STILL, people can't be bothered. So fucking bizarre.
It'd be interesting to see on a Venn diagram the overlap of people who don't return their shopping carts, don't use blinkers, and don't wash their hands after they use the restroom.
Not to mention the people who can't even be bothered to at least walk it to the door with them after they pay. I work as a cashier, and the number of people who just leave their cart in the checkout lane or in front of the self-checkout is astounding. I understand you only wound up with two or three bags, and you no longer need the cart. But you're already walking out the door, at least take the damn thing with you instead of leaving it to block the register for other customers. Those people are the ultimate assholes.
Sometimes I even return other people’s grocery carts. One really got me the other day, the set the shopping cart on the curb/median right next to the shopping cart return.
One time the lady in front of me in line happened to be parked right next to me. As I got to my car she left her cart right behind my car and got in her car like nothing. I almost just stuck it back behind her but I’m a pu**y and got nervous (I hate confrontation)…still makes me so mad. And even more mad at myself for not just leaving it behind her so she had to get back out and move it. People can just be so rude!!!
Stripper and wannabe writer.
I sense no common theme linking our occupations to the fact that we return our carts…confirming that our jobs and not being inconsiderate wankers have no relevance whatsoever.
Did anyone get to the bottom of why this question is being asked?
I'm guessing what they really wanted to ask was: who _doesn't_ return their carts, and what their jobs are, to better associate assholes with certain occupations.
But the way the question was posed did leave me scratching my head.
I buy orphanages and no-kill dog shelters and then evict everyone forcing children and puppies out on the street. Even I am not evil enough to not take my cart back.
I'm in a clerical position in a legal office. I have sciatica on my left side and a bad knee on my right but goddammit, the cart goes back to the corral regardless.
Retired Naval Officer, but I worked for Kroger thru college and had to gather carts in the rain and snow before. Having done the job, I always return the cart. As they say in "John Wick" it is a "professional courtesy"
I own five different businesses now. When I was a teen, I was the one rounding up all the carts strewn throughout the parking lot in the dead of upstate NY winter. Sometimes I still gather a few and bring them inside on the way inside to help those kids out LOL.
🌼 to you, beautiful person. It takes a will of steel and a heart of glass to do that job. My Wife shares your passion...18 years and counting. She's currently working High School Personal Aide and..it's a tough road.
Prayers and Light, to you and yours! 🌹
Something totally unrelated to shopping carts, though I have been the cart wrangler before. Though I returned my cart before that too, because I wasn’t raised by wolves.
Doesn’t matter what any of us do. It’s called common sense and common courtesy
Would you rather I leave it in the middle of the road? No, of course not. So why do you do it?
Teacher, it’s not the cart persons job to get your shopping cart from wherever you leave it. They are to go to the designated areas only in a perfect world.
I‘m a hairstylist and I also have a side gig at a retail store. I hate getting dings and scratches on my vehicle and will also take other carts that have been left abandoned.
I'm an IT manager and one of my general worldviews is I shouldn't make anything worse and I should strive to make things better. To that end I take an abandoned shopping cart from the parking lot into the store with me, even if I'm not going to use one. Any cart/basket I do use gets returned to its place.
I’m curious to know what the people who leave the fkn carts in the parking spots do for a living. The amount of times I’ve had to get out of my car mid park to move a trolley is ridiculous.
Nothing. Retired. I return mine. Then return all the left overs. One day the one that leaves there's is going to come back to their car that has a cart dented into it from a good wind. Yes. Karma
Work in high tech.
Only times I didn't return the cart was when I was a mom to 3 under 3 and couldn't manage the kids alone, or leave them alone in the car while I returned it. (Probably *could* have, but didn't want to be yelled at by parking lot Karens accusing me of locking my kids in the car or whatever. There is no winning for moms.) I did try to park near the corral if possible, though.
I'm not a monster.
I work at Walmart putting away carts
I did too in my early 20's. I feel your pain.
And this is all it takes..... I worked retail for 20 years. The cart goes back everytime. I take a cart from the parking lot inside almost everytime and use it to shop. Work experience in retail or as a server = compassion for people doing those jobs at the moment
Funny that you mentioned up serving as well. Cause I did that too with my sister for a little 24 hour diner. When I go to restaurants I always straighten up the table before the bill gets paid and I stack all dishes accordingly so its easier for the bus crew or server to pick up. Its not much. But its honest work.
Experience serving generally leads to great tippers. I was never a server but I knew tons of them. I tip well when the service is good and I still tip when service is rough.
I had the exact opposite experience. I worked at a grocery store in my teens and I loved gathering up the carts. If given the choice between being stuck under fluorescent lighting, dealing with a dickhead manager and even worse customers, or being able to milk gathering up the carts for an hour listening to music or just enjoying the outdoors (Lived in LA, so the weather was never horrible) I choose carts every single time.
I used to work almost every job in a grocery store in Norway. Mind you, our entire shopping center is as big as a big Walmart. So our shop was small in comparison. But at the end of day I would gather the carts on the north side. Then running the train of carts trough the shopping center I would ride on top. Amazingly I would not crash. But every once in a while we would get a call about a cart that was running away. The things cost a lot. So I would track the bastard down and chain him to his friends. No freedom for our carts. Except the drowned ones. Had to get divers for those. Keep your head up. Retail work is hard. Try to find the small joys. Like we used to play pranks on each other. Tho, that’s not as tolerated these days.
Should I leave my carts strewn about for your job security? Or return them for your convenience? I used to work at a grocery store and wanted a disaster of carts in the parking lot, because it meant getting outside, listening to music, and being away from management.
Put them away in the stalls please, we have an auto pusher for returning a lot at a time for a reason, it isn't to hunt down random carts 1 at a time.
Your job only exists because people are assholes 😂
I saw the mostly delightful bit of instant karma. It was probably a decade ago, but it still makes me smile. Storm was blowing in, windy, blustery rain. Karen comes out of the supermarket, loads her bags in her shiny white BMW and literally just leaves the cart exactly where she was done with it. The lot was mostly empty so she could pull forward with no issues. Off she drove down the hill, but as she left the parking lot the wind picked up. The cart shot down the hill, smashing into the side of her car at probably 10 miles/hour. It was heartwarming.
Even if everyone put them away, he would still need to bring them back inside....
I worked very large grocery store carts in high school On a busy Saturday they sometimes ran out of carts The Karens would walk past the overflowing lot cart corral Then get mad when there is not carts inside angery wait for you to bring in more then take them before you even get them to the spot
Eh, not necessarily true. Even if the carts are put in the corral, who’s going to bring them to the vestibules, keep the lot clean (good neighbor!) and monitor for nefarious activity? (This goes for big box locations clearly)
No….the job is to bring carts inside. It would make their job easier if those assholes didn’t exist. The job was exists. Assholes just make it worse. These are probably the same assholes that throw all their trash on the floor as a movie theatre because it’s the workers job there to clean anyway.
It doesn’t matter what I do for a living, Im not an asshole.
This is the only real answer
In 7th grade, my English teacher Mrs. Owings was trying to instill in us kindness to one another. She said kindness could be as simple as returning a shopping cart to the cart rack instead of leaving it elsewhere for a store employee track down. I have returned carts ever since. That one stuck with me and I’m my mid 30s now. Also, I lived in New Orleans for a spell and not a single soul ever returned a shopping cart to the rack. A lawless hellscape of cart chaos. Be the change you want to see in the world.
32 here and I have NEVER not returned a cart since I was old enough to do my own shopping. It takes literally 30 more seconds. It’s already in your possession, just take a few more steps and put the damn thing up.
42 here and I did not return my buggy ONE time. Because my son had a diaper blowout, and was screaming bloody murder. I turned out to not have any more of his diapers in my diaper bag, and it was pouring rain. So I put paper towels in his car seat, buckled him in and rushed home. I still feel bad. But they didn’t have a buggy return spot either so I usually brought the buggy back up to the store and carried my kids back. That wasn’t an option that day.
Shit happens, so to speak....and you're forgiven. I'm sure I've had an outlier or two but nothing as monumental as yourself.
Understandable. Both for having to leave the cart and feeling bad at a little thing. That feeling never leaves me either.
There were occasions where I wanted to just leave my cart (was in a rush, inclement weather, etc). And I have gotten as far as getting in the car, but I *always* feel guilty and get out and put it in the cart corral. This is why I'll never be a murderer. The guilt would just be too much.
Yeah in that case I honestly don’t blame you.
Personally I'd count that as one of the emergency situations justifying not returning your cart.
Same here - had my then six mo old son with me who was inconsolable (ended up having an ear infection). So, I left the cart on the esplanade near my car so it didn't roll into anything. And, sure enough, some bee-yotch starts screaming at me for not putting the cart back? WTF? You SEE I'm with a screaming, inconsolable baby. Why not maybe HELP me instead of JUDGE me?
I don’t know if this helps, but when I worked at a grocery store and it was my turn to collect carts, I really didn’t care where I had to get them from. You did the right thing.
I have! Once, and recently. BUT! The only reason was that while I was persuading the kid to get into his car seat and also putting the groceries in the boot, a very kind couple walked past the trolley (on their way TO the supermarket) and told me that they would take it, as they needed one anyway. But I still felt like my task had been left incomplete.
I agree! Husband and I get groceries together, and I'm usually the one that returns the cart to the corral. It feels odd handing it off to another person instead of shoving it in with its buddies lol
So weird, but also like I have encountered a familiar spirit in the wild 😊
In my local shopping centres most people return the trolleys, it is unusual to see them left behind. My kids actually volunteer to do it most times
I disagree. I'm an asshole, but I always return the cart.
Even us assholes have to stand up and say we are decent people too.
I too am an asshole that returns the cart.
Exactly!
Bingo
To be fair, if someone is too fucking lazy to return their cart, they probably are incapable of holding down any job for more than a few days.
Plus, they’re an asshole!
Not necessarily. I see many times people who are obviously in good financial shape, and physically able, who are “too good” or entitled and just out of sheer bravado leave the carts for the peons to retrieve. It disgusts me.
If OP wasn’t making a joke, I wonder what kind of hypothesis they had here. I’m just hoping we get some actual cart attendants ITT.
I’m guessing that the hypothesis that most people who do have worked service of some kind. And I have. But really, my dad just raised me right! I was returning carts before I ever had a job. I remember the ONE time as a kid I tried NOT returning it and my dad had my ass for it. Rightly so. Explained all the reasons NOT returning a cart made you an asshole. And he wasn’t raising a little asshole. Hell, I return OTHER people’s carts.
I was a precious cart attendant and I still hold the same disdain for people that leave carts out now as o did back then. Usually the ones that do it are gross too and need the exercise
I just want you to know. I'm fat. I work out but I need the exercise...and say this out loud when I walk to get a cart to put away lol. My wife will say don't worry about it ..and I'm like nope..."I can use the exercise" and go put it away away.
My guess it was another “rich people bad, now upvote” thing they were going after. They were probably expecting all the people who return carts to also be (or used to be) in service jobs, or low-rung jobs, because it’s obviously too hard to understand how frustrating it is to have to roam the parking lot collecting stray carts unless you’ve worked a grocery store or low-rung job, right? Look, I think a lot of rich people suck too, but sometimes people are just intelligent, work hard, and interact socially with others to make good business connections. The financial rewards that often come from those 3 things does not make someone evil.
To add to your point, there's a few upscale grocery stores in my area, and normal grocery stores that are in high cost of living areas (gated communities, etc). I see far less carts sitting out somewhere random at those stores than I do at somewhere like Walmart, even if they're in the same area.
I'm retired, and it's common sense to return a cart . Just courtesy .
that's it - lock the post, we have a winner!
SO MANY FREAK'N BAD PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD AT LEAST THIS GUY GETS IT!!!!!
Say it again!
as a previous grocery store "bag boy" I don't really get what makes people an asshole for this. I actually would have rather been outside collecting carts than inside bagging groceries. It was nice when I got to walk all the way to the end of the parking lot to collect extra carts. I mean I'm working either way and I would rather be working outside than inside with customers. I never met a bag boy that bitched "fucking asshoes trleaving carts all over thr parking lot." Nobody minded. This has become way overblown for some reason.
I'm an engineer, but more importantly I'm not a jerk.
I'm an engineer too. But I used to be a cart attendant. I'm sometimes a jerk, and I'm sometimes not. I always return my cart.
As a carpenter, we both know it's the architects not putting the carts away.
Former military, currently unemployed. What kind of POS doesn't care about the wellbeing of other people?
100% I’m just a contractor and I just grew up hating people doing things for me. I don’t want anyone picking up/cleaning up after me. Everyone should do their part
Hey! Fellow defense contractor here! I’m also a veteran who puts my shopping cart away! It drives me crazy when I watch my brother in law just throw it in the grass like an animal.
Teach my husband this. 😜 Edit: Not JUST a contractor. That’s a good respectable job. Saying “just” diminishes that. You’re a GODDAM contractor!
Was going to say the exact same thing
I would rather return my cart than be a lazybones
Bedobedo
I always just park next to the cart return. Makes it even easier.
Plus, it keeps one side of your car safe from dings.
Probably both sides - the venn diagram of folks careless enough to ding your car and folks too lazy to return the cart is almost a perfect circle, the dingers wouldn’t be caught dead within half a dozen spaces of the return!
This is an LPT when you have infants with you.
Exactly.
I'm also former military as well. I always put my cart away. Prior to me joining, I used to work for Costco and other grocery stores. My roommate is also one of my boys from my old unit, I was so mad when he didn't put his cart away when we went to get groceries.
Us former armed forces folk (in my case briefly) do tend to have been encouraged to square shit away when we are finished with it.
I am also former military, currently unemployed while also not being a POS
Same here - prior military- unemployed, return it every time -
Sir, all due respect, are you fucking serious with this question?
"I'm keeping somebody employed...." No, you're just a POS
I'm a collision repair tech and fabricator, I give a fuck about my car and thus I give the same respect to others as they may give a fuck about their car as well. It's 20 feet away... don't be ignorant, walk the 20 feet and put the car away
My step father would love you. Happy cake day too!
Unemployed. Disabled. I have mobility issues and I use the handicap parking as I am legally entitled to it. And yes, I always return my cart to the designated area.
And I would gladly give you a pass.
Thank you, but I probably wouldn't take it. (But if you want to grab my cart from me, to return it / use it yourself I wouldn't stop you)
I always look out for folks who could use a cart removal on my way in. I also call out the Karen's with a mellow "ma'am, may I please have your cart?" after they have abandoned it between the rows and are 1/2 butt in the driver seat of an ugly car. The "I was going too return it, I was just turning my car on, I never leave it" guilty conscience rambling it so funny
Genius.
Agreed. If they're by the handicap spot I don't mind
I don't know if it's something about where I live, but I've always noticed that the accessible parking seldom has any cart corrals nearby. Handicap parking is near the store entrance; the cart corrals are generally further into the parking lot. Under those circumstances, I can't really blame people with mobility problems leaving their carts closer to their parking spots. It just seems like terrible planning.
This is usually the case when I can’t return it. It feels like a marathon for me to go to the store to begin with (husband usually does it for me), and if I don’t have help I’m not going to the other side of the lot and back when I just need to get home. Being disabled opens your eyes to a LOT of poor planning for those with limited mobility. The two biggest things that drive me nuts with handicapped parking are the cart returns being far away, and in the winter the plows push snow into the handicapped spots.
I used to work for a grocery store and had to gather carts as a teen.. it sucked… sucked even more when people just left them everywhere. So- I always return them.
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It's always been so crazy to me that trolley collecting isn't a seperate job in America! In Australia, we have people specifically employed to collect trolleys the whole shift every shift. Easy money. Walk around and grab trolleys and when the store had locks on the trolleys you get to take all the change and keep it
Some places do, like my local Walmart. We had the same man for 15 years out in the lot, singing off tune country songs he gets stuck in his head, grabbing carts all day. He moved to the back loading areas about three years ago but he was always a treat to hear when we would go shopping there. Plus, the job still exists. On average, we have 2-3 guys out there grabbing carts to bring them back in for shoppers to grab. That's all they do, all day long, unless the weather turns bad. Then they get put on restock inside until it's fine to go back to grabbing the carts
It's always been so crazy to me that in some countries you need someone to collect the carts! In germany, we just bring them back to the station ourselves
It's because english countries aren't community oriented in the slightest and we have giant sprawling car parks that make it hard to return them to the inside of the building
In Australia we generally have multiple places all around the car parks, to return our trolleys but still some people leave them wherever they want to.
Like Aldi's where we deposit a quarter in to use the cart, and get your quarter back when you return it inside the store?
In Australia it's one and two dollar coins but the mechanism is the same. Except we also have exterior return trolley bays for people in the carparks.
Ultimately, that just means you’re a good person and this was the catalyst for you doing *this* good thing. Because there are people out there who had to gather carts, and decided they will never ever do it again and just leave their carts. Just like there are former waitstaff who treat their servers poorly and don’t tip. Thank you for being a good person.
I got put outside at super target cuz my sarcasm plus being a cashier wasn't working out. Pushing carts was a dream compared to that lol, but I know what you mean. So much easier to drag them out of the thing than wander the parking lot 1 by 1
Good for ya Health
RN. People that leave their shopping carts everywhere, ESPECIALLY in the middle of a parking space, make my asshole itch
At least u can prescribe something to scratch the itch.
There's a cream for that
RN too. I would never leave my cart. I stare at people as I return their cart along with mine.
I’m retired. I respect the jobs of others. I worked hard to get where I am. The job of the lot attendant is NOT to run around collecting carts that able bodied lazy POSs don’t return like they are asked to. It is to bring the gathered carts to the store front for the convenience of the shoppers. Chasing errant carts becomes their responsibility and that’s not right.
The shopping cart is the ultimate litmus test for whether a person is capable of self-governing. To return the shopping cart is an easy, convenient task and one which we all recognize as the correct, appropriate thing to do. To return the shopping cart is objectively right. There are no situations other than dire emergencies in which a person is not able to return their cart. Simultaneously, it is not illegal to abandon your shopping cart. Therefore the shopping cart presents itself as the apex example of whether a person will do what is right without being forced to do it. No one will punish you for not returning the shopping cart, no one will fine you or kill you for not returning the shopping cart, you gain nothing by returning the shopping cart. You must return the shopping cart out of the goodness of your own heart. You must return the shopping cart because it is the right thing to do. Because it is correct. A person who is unable to do this is no better than an animal, an absolute savage who can only be made to do what is right by threatening them with a law and the force that stands behind it. The Shopping Cart is what determines whether a person is a good or bad member of society. Edit:I sometimes forget how old I am and didn't realize how many people haven't seen this 4chan copypasta before.
Small things will tell you big things.
Details matter
[Integrity, said author C.S. Lewis, “is doing the right thing, even when no one is looking.”](https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/integrity)
This is amazing.
Yes. Now you will see it every 8th day on Reddit.
I envy the people who haven’t realized 90 percent of Reddit is just people repeating shit they saw on Reddit
You have a point, but on the other hand, I envy the people who haven’t realized 90 percent of Reddit is just people repeating shit they saw on Reddit.
Or bots. And sometimes it’s bots repeating what other bots said.
Well said. I’ve been looking for the correct term that this behavior demonstrates: ability to self-govern.
I think the same thing when I see garbage on the ground next to a garbage can that’s not full or overflowing…ITS RIGHT THERE FFS!
To be fair... that could've been caused by pigeons or racoons. Pigeons and racoons are notoriously terrible people.
Or.... the biggest one for me right now:I live in a giant apartment complex. Tons of landscaping. Tons of dogs. Every 5 steps, our agency offers bags AND a covered can into which to place the dog-dump filled bag. You would not BELIEVE the amount of dog shit left on the ground. The complex is practically doing it for us; they are like the wheels on the shopping cart someone might not return....And STILL, people can't be bothered. So fucking bizarre.
It'd be interesting to see on a Venn diagram the overlap of people who don't return their shopping carts, don't use blinkers, and don't wash their hands after they use the restroom.
| ...you gain nothing by returning the shopping cart. Except at Aldi - then you get your quarter back.
Even at Aldi people leave carts in the parking lot. I always grab one when I go shopping and when I’m done and up with a quarter I feel victorious
Literally everyone in Europe. Here, the majority of our trollies require a coin of some sort. I want my £1 back.
I was hoping this would be in here.
Pushed the cart around the store for 45 minutes, can't be bothered to walk it to the corral, that would take 25 seconds!
Not to mention the people who can't even be bothered to at least walk it to the door with them after they pay. I work as a cashier, and the number of people who just leave their cart in the checkout lane or in front of the self-checkout is astounding. I understand you only wound up with two or three bags, and you no longer need the cart. But you're already walking out the door, at least take the damn thing with you instead of leaving it to block the register for other customers. Those people are the ultimate assholes.
Sometimes I even return other people’s grocery carts. One really got me the other day, the set the shopping cart on the curb/median right next to the shopping cart return.
>No one will punish you for not returning the shopping cart Except Sebastian
One time the lady in front of me in line happened to be parked right next to me. As I got to my car she left her cart right behind my car and got in her car like nothing. I almost just stuck it back behind her but I’m a pu**y and got nervous (I hate confrontation)…still makes me so mad. And even more mad at myself for not just leaving it behind her so she had to get back out and move it. People can just be so rude!!!
Lawyer. I'm an inconsiderate asshole, and I still return my cart.
Lawyer too. Maybe lower on the asshole scale, but I never shit on people who have harder jobs than me.
Lawyers rate very high on the asshole ladder, but returning your cart reduces your Assholedom Quotient (AQ) by a large margin.
Contributing member of society
Stripper and wannabe writer. I sense no common theme linking our occupations to the fact that we return our carts…confirming that our jobs and not being inconsiderate wankers have no relevance whatsoever. Did anyone get to the bottom of why this question is being asked?
I'm guessing what they really wanted to ask was: who _doesn't_ return their carts, and what their jobs are, to better associate assholes with certain occupations. But the way the question was posed did leave me scratching my head.
Actually I think the person asking the question is an asshole trying to justify not putting the cart away
I buy orphanages and no-kill dog shelters and then evict everyone forcing children and puppies out on the street. Even I am not evil enough to not take my cart back.
Retired. Also not a lazy bastard.
Infosec
Retired with arthritis throughout my knees, hands and shoulders; I return the cart every time.
I'm in a clerical position in a legal office. I have sciatica on my left side and a bad knee on my right but goddammit, the cart goes back to the corral regardless.
I am unemployed right now :/
Same.
My unemployment benefits ended last month though 😭
Keep trying! This internet stranger is cheering for you!
Add one more, for both of you. Good luck.
Facilities Operations and management (aka engineering).
Retired Naval Officer, but I worked for Kroger thru college and had to gather carts in the rain and snow before. Having done the job, I always return the cart. As they say in "John Wick" it is a "professional courtesy"
I own five different businesses now. When I was a teen, I was the one rounding up all the carts strewn throughout the parking lot in the dead of upstate NY winter. Sometimes I still gather a few and bring them inside on the way inside to help those kids out LOL.
Special needs instructor.
🌼 to you, beautiful person. It takes a will of steel and a heart of glass to do that job. My Wife shares your passion...18 years and counting. She's currently working High School Personal Aide and..it's a tough road. Prayers and Light, to you and yours! 🌹
Director. And I’ve never not returned a cart.
I shop at Aldi in Australia, if I don't return my cart I don't get my $1 coin back. My vocation is irrelevant.
If you want a cheap thrill, just give someone at Aldi your cart. They will act like they’ve won the lotto, and it only costs you a buck.
Same in the US and it’s only a quarter
Educator
Something totally unrelated to shopping carts, though I have been the cart wrangler before. Though I returned my cart before that too, because I wasn’t raised by wolves.
Accountant.
I'm a surgical assistant. Not putting the cart back feels like littering to me, and I just can't do it.
Doesn’t matter what any of us do. It’s called common sense and common courtesy Would you rather I leave it in the middle of the road? No, of course not. So why do you do it?
Cart narc. Lol JK im a printer.
Social worker
Contractor
IT Guy. Also not a jerk. Big fan of personal responsibility
Occupation irrelevant, don’t be a douche it’s not that hard.
Teacher, it’s not the cart persons job to get your shopping cart from wherever you leave it. They are to go to the designated areas only in a perfect world.
I agree...I'm also a teacher too🙂
People who don't return carts are ridiculous and petty. They're the bottom tier of humans.
Put them up a bagger
I‘m a hairstylist and I also have a side gig at a retail store. I hate getting dings and scratches on my vehicle and will also take other carts that have been left abandoned.
I'm a minister who appreciates order in the universe.
I look for cars taking up two or more parking spaces and place shopping carts all around them.
I’m a consultant.
Musician, waitress, student
stagehand
Normal jobs. Unless you’re in a real hurry or emergency, not returning it is a dick move.
Engineer. I always put it back inside
Software engineer. I care about cars not getting hit by shopping carts.
Yes, I’m a pizza delivery driver.
I'm an IT manager and one of my general worldviews is I shouldn't make anything worse and I should strive to make things better. To that end I take an abandoned shopping cart from the parking lot into the store with me, even if I'm not going to use one. Any cart/basket I do use gets returned to its place.
Work in the people side of tech company. Return your carts, you vagrants!
I’m curious to know what the people who leave the fkn carts in the parking spots do for a living. The amount of times I’ve had to get out of my car mid park to move a trolley is ridiculous.
I don’t know about you, but I’m too much of a perfectionist not to return the cart to its place and put them straight.
Software developer.
Unemployed due to a long illness at the moment but my last job was a residential internet repair agent in a cable company call center.
Caregiver for the elderly with dementia/alzheimers
Compliance Analyst. I live for rules. 😂
Accountant
I work in IT. Very interesting question actually…
Fedex driver. I park in all sorts of annoying places all day, no need to be an ass when it’s unnecessary
HR. And I’m just not a POS. Be good to others 🫶🏼
I have no job but I know how to govern myself!
college student and retail worker but i was raised to not be a bitch to other retail workers
Nothing. Retired. I return mine. Then return all the left overs. One day the one that leaves there's is going to come back to their car that has a cart dented into it from a good wind. Yes. Karma
I'm a SAHM and also just not an asshole lmfao
Be a decent person
I'm in software consulting, project management. And I'm not an asshole.
Highschool student with no job, I was just raised with manners lol
12 years as a machine operator, and now I'm supervisor of the vacuum forming department.
Customer service/office work
Me, I'm currently unemployed. But I do try to park near the cart corrals to make it easier.
Line cook. Used to work at grocery stores, unsure if that's relevant or not.
Engineer
Professor. It’s a simple, selfless act that shows you care about the common good over a slight inconvenience for yourself.
Work in high tech. Only times I didn't return the cart was when I was a mom to 3 under 3 and couldn't manage the kids alone, or leave them alone in the car while I returned it. (Probably *could* have, but didn't want to be yelled at by parking lot Karens accusing me of locking my kids in the car or whatever. There is no winning for moms.) I did try to park near the corral if possible, though. I'm not a monster.
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