Carts go in the "Cart Corral,"

[mjkacmom]

It really depends for me. Some stores here, such as Target, have many cart corrals. I try to park by one. However, our closest grocery store is old, and has expanded, as have the parking lots, and the cart corrals are few and far between. However, at any given time, there are at least 2 young men in each lot, gathering the carts. About half the time, one approaches me as I'm loading my van, and takes it for me. It also depends on the weather - I'm not going to get soaking wet returning a cart.

I'm also one who parks far from the entrance - I hate it when people are waiting for my spot, and I have no patience in driving around looking for a close spot - it's faster to walk a little bit.

 

[lovetoscrap]

to see if they mentioned any sort of anti-cart-returning religion/political party.

I was going to say that but didn't want to set off a unallowed debate over anti-cart-return sects or parties.

 

[U2_rocks!]

I realize that it may be difficult to return a cart to a corral from time to time, but I just don't get why people leave them where they do sometimes. At least find a safe place to leave them that they don't block other people or go blowing across the parking lot to crash into someone's car! A simple thing like making sure that when you park it the wheels are turned such that they can't just roll off is a good start. It's the people that just don't care about others that bug me the most.

 

[luvmy3]

There is one store where I shop that I rarely put the car in the corral. Two corrals in the entire parking lot, and the parking lanes are separated by planters. So depending on where you can find a parking spot, to put the cart away, you have to traverse over 1/2 the lot to put the cart away. Sorry, call me lazy, but I'm just not doing that.

Well if you insist
I'm not going to go all crazy and attack you for your choice to be lazy but I will ask why you can't just return the cart to the store or the front of the store then? I assume you are capable of turning around and retracing the footsteps that got you to your car in the first place, why not just bring the cart back there?

 

[princesspiglet]

I totally remember a few threads about this getting really heated and eventually closed.

Lovestoscrap summed it up perfectly. Everyone seems to have an excuse for not doing the right thing. It all comes down to one thing- pure laziness!

I don't care if the cart corral is 2 miles away. Park closer to it or get off your your lazy butt and return the dang cart!

 

[luvmy3jewels]

Maybe if I summarize we could avoid the debate?

I can't return the cart because:

I have a small child, toddler, baby, high schooler, college age child, homeschooled kids, public school kids, quadruplets, my mother, father, aunt, cousin and I can't leave them alone in the car while I return it, they could be kidnapped, run away or die of heatstroke/frostbite. It is too hot or too cold. I am disabled, my back hurts, my feet hurt, I broke my leg, twisted my ankle, broke my arm, have a headache, have a cold, have a migraine, am throwing up, need to go to the bathroom. I might get kidnapped, shot, stabbed, raped or murdered on the way to the Cart Return. I am late for work, an appointment, picking my child up from school, catching a plane, curing cancer. They put them too far away from my car. I can't find the place to return them. The cart return is full. It is not my job, that is what they have employees for. I am morally opposed to putting things where they belong. I took the cart in from a parking place so I am just putting it back where I found it. Someone else left the cart in my parking place so I have every right to do it too. There were already a few carts around the space so I just added mine. If you don't want your car scratched by a cart then shop somewhere else. If the store didn't want the cart left in the lot they would have someone to take my groceries out for me and take the cart back.

It's been a while so I hope that I covered it all.

ETA: Oops, forgot:
I am pregnant, TTC, just had a baby, thinking about becoming pregnant. It is raining, snowing, sleeting, hailing, windy, leaves are falling. I forgot my coat, sunscreen, mittens, hat, shoes, pants, umbrella.

I'll add more as I think of them.

Best post ever!!! I think you just about covered it!!

 

[Scurvy]

It really depends for me. Some stores here, such as Target, have many cart corrals. I try to park by one. However, our closest grocery store is old, and has expanded, as have the parking lots, and the cart corrals are few and far between. However, at any given time, there are at least 2 young men in each lot, gathering the carts. About half the time, one approaches me as I'm loading my van, and takes it for me. It also depends on the weather - I'm not going to get soaking wet returning a cart.

I'm also one who parks far from the entrance - I hate it when people are waiting for my spot, and I have no patience in driving around looking for a close spot - it's faster to walk a little bit.

Yes, I suspect you're not alone in that. The day my car was dented it was raining. I'm sure that the person who let her cart roll across the parking lot to hit my car decided it was worth hundreds of dollars of damage to someone else's car as long as she didn't have to get wet. Personally, I would disagree since people dry without ay big expense involved, so I put my cart away regardless of the weather.

 

[lovetoscrap]

Still don't have to use a quarter to get the cart the first place though other than Aldi's (and YES, I HAVE seen carts just left in the parking lot at Aldi's too).

I have never been to an Aldi's so I have to ask-- does paying 25 cents really prevent people from leaving the cart around? I assume they get that back when they return it? Are lazy people really so concerned about their 25 cents that they think "You know, it is raining and I have a baby with a cold that is throwing up and I am pregnant with a broken leg and there is a guy that looks like a serial killer walking towards me with a knife but DARN IT, I want my quarter back!" ?????

Maybe I am just not desperate enough but if my only motivation for returning the cart to the proper place was 25 cents I would be leaving it blocking the car next to me (if I were a lazy, inconsiderate person).

 

[Angelhalo]

And let's go ahead and clear up one thing. There is no such thing as a "hike" to a cart corral. Even if it is all the way on the other side of the lot, it still isn't a "hike". No able bodied solo person shopping should have any problem walking to return a cart. No matter where the cart corral is located. If you don't take the cart either to the corral or back to the store and you are an able bodied solo shopper, then you are just lazy. Pure and simple. There is not a single able bodied person who would be physically harmed by the "strenuous" task of walking a few aisles through a parking lot.

 

[Angelhalo]

I have never been to an Aldi's so I have to ask-- does paying 25 cents really prevent people from leaving the cart around? I assume they get that back when they return it? Are lazy people really so concerned about their 25 cents that they think "You know, it is raining and I have a baby with a cold that is throwing up and I am pregnant with a broken leg and there is a guy that looks like a serial killer walking towards me with a knife but DARN IT, I want my quarter back!" ?????

Maybe I am just not desperate enough but if my only motivation for returning the cart to the proper place was 25 cents I would be leaving it blocking the car next to me (if I were a lazy, inconsiderate person).

It seems to do the trick at our Aldi. I have never seen a loose cart in the lot. A lot of people donate their cart to someone who has just arived. You see someone getting out of their car and if you don't care about your quarter you hand it off to someone rather than having to take it back to the store.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I was just summarizing the other side in the past DIS debates, hoping if I threw all their reasons out there at once we could avoid the prolonged fight. Could work! You were able to refute all of them all in one post instead of having to address each person one at a time as they post one of those excuses.

But we all know, almost nobody is going to admit to any of my reasons. They're all going to claim one of your excuses

And if there is no bagger?? Not all stores have them any more, or have enough to send them out to the car with you.

Then you talk to store management. Realistically, having carts left 'all over the parking lot', to be picked up when baggers aren't busy with, well, bagging, can't be ideal.

It also depends on the weather - I'm not going to get soaking wet returning a cart.

Aha! Did lovetoscrap include 'weather' in her list of excuses? At any rate - you're already soaked from getting between the store and your car. Not buying this one

 

[Becky2005]

I have never been to an Aldi's so I have to ask-- does paying 25 cents really prevent people from leaving the cart around? I assume they get that back when they return it? Are lazy people really so concerned about their 25 cents that they think "You know, it is raining and I have a baby with a cold that is throwing up and I am pregnant with a broken leg and there is a guy that looks like a serial killer walking towards me with a knife but DARN IT, I want my quarter back!" ?????

Maybe I am just not desperate enough but if my only motivation for returning the cart to the proper place was 25 cents I would be leaving it blocking the car next to me (if I were a lazy, inconsiderate person).

It SEEMS to, of course, having children that love to KEEP the quarter also help (Grandma would always let them keep the quarter). The carts are "plugged" into one another and you put the quarter in, it releases the lock/plug. When you are done shopping, you plug it back in and out pops your quarter from your cart (you can see it in the cart).

I just thought to add that if they are shopping at Aldi, then YES, they will definitely be wanting their quarter back!!!

If it's busy enough, people just hand you a quarter for your cart, so you sometimes don't really need to put it all the way back.

It's so rare that I see the carts in the parking lot that it stuck out in my mind when we did, of course, then we think "WOO HOO" bonus quarter for us (it would be the same thing as finding a quarter on the street).

Aldi's usually don't have really big parking lots though and you can't do all your grocery shopping there. It's a somewhat basic serve yourself type store (you have to bag your groceries too & pay for the bags or bring your own). It's rare there are name brand things, occassionally but mostly Aldi brand stuff.

 

[Trixieplus2]

This always turns ugly.

Let's try to head some of it off....

1, If you are handicapped than ask a bagger to help you out with your groceries.

2. If you have young children and do not want to leave your children in the car while you return your cart, see number 1

3. All others have no excuses. Basic consideration says that you would safely secure the cart in the cart return as to not damage anyone elses property.

This is why I shop at Ingles with two toddlers and a bad back it is nice to just say yes when the cart boy asks if I need help. I never load my own groceries

I always try to park in the least likely spot to get hit wayyyy at the side of the store or the back. I have for the first time in my adult life a car that I am making payments on and have full coverage on before I always got clunkers and paid up front with bare minimum insurance. If some one hits my car with a buggy I might go all "Fried Green Tomatoes" on them

 

[kaytieeldr]

And let's go ahead and clear up one thing. There is no such thing as a "hike" to a cart corral. Even if it is all the way on the other side of the lot, it still isn't a "hike". No able bodied solo person shopping should have any problem walking to return a cart. No matter where the cart corral is located. If you don't take the cart either to the corral or back to the store and you are an able bodied solo shopper, then you are just lazy. Pure and simple. There is not a single able bodied person who would be physically harmed by the "strenuous" task of walking a few aisles through a parking lot.

Not all disabled solo shoppers are or should be exempt from this admonishment. There's a Shaw's near me where it's about twenty-thirty feet between the handicapped parking and the sidewalk, but the cart corral is just across the aisle.

I was at a different store Tuesday night, and two women had just finished shopping and wheeled a cart of bags to their car in an HP-marked space. NOT making a judgement at all, it's entirely possible both women were disabled, but one got into the driver's seat while the other loaded the groceries into the trunk... and then instead of looking for a carriage man or a cart corral or just walking the fifteen feet back to the sidewalk, left the cart in the crosshatch/no parking area.

 

[Angelhalo]

Not all disabled solo shoppers are or should be exempt from this admonishment. There's a Shaw's near me where it's about twenty-thirty feet between the handicapped parking and the sidewalk, but the cart corral is just across the aisle.

I was at a different store Tuesday night, and two women had just finished shopping and wheeled a cart of bags to their car in an HP-marked space. NOT making a judgement at all, it's entirely possible both women were disabled, but one got into the driver's seat while the other loaded the groceries into the trunk... and then instead of looking for a carriage man or a cart corral or just walking the fifteen feet back to the sidewalk, left the cart in the crosshatch/no parking area.

I was making no assumptions about disabled shoppers but rather pointing out my thoughts on able bodied shoppers. The two were not mutually exclusive

I hear ya though!

 

[Straitlover]

I was at the store the other day. The space I was parking in had the cart corral on the right, and on the left was a planting area (trees/mulch/curb). The person before me jacked the cart up on the planting area rather than putting it in the basically empty corral right next to the car.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Well I could come here and give you a myriad of reason why I don't always return the cart and they are legitimate- but sometimes I simply do not feel like it. There are no bag boys or nice young kids to help you to your car here. Many times I have 2 carts full of stuff and nobody from the store even offers to help let alone bag my stuff. So I will struggle to drag both carts through the parking lot without getting run over and dropping stuff or falling. Once I do that and I hold onto one cart with my foot so it doesn't roll away while I unload the other one into my car and then repeat the process I simply do not want to be bothered "hiking" - because at this point yes, it does feel like a hike- to the other end of the lot to put the carts there. So if you want to call me lazy I don't care. Our grocery stores do not help the customers and they hire people to round up carts. I guess I am creating job security for them.

 

[Angelhalo]

Well I could come here and give you a myriad of reason why I don't always return the cart and they are legitimate- but sometimes I simply do not feel like it. There are no bag boys or nice young kids to help you to your car here. Many times I have 2 carts full of stuff and nobody from the store even offers to help let alone bag my stuff. So I will struggle to drag both carts through the parking lot without getting run over and dropping stuff or falling. Once I do that and I hold onto one cart with my foot so it doesn't roll away while I unload the other one into my car and then repeat the process I simply do not want to be bothered "hiking" - because at this point yes, it does feel like a hike- to the other end of the lot to put the carts there. So if you want to call me lazy I don't care. Our grocery stores do not help the customers and they hire people to round up carts. I guess I am creating job security for them.

So if it should get caught by the wind or bumped by a passing child, and it should roll into another person's car....it's just no concern of yours because it's not your car?

I'm trying to understand this thought process.....

 

[Planogirl]

It's often very windy here and carts sometimes take off across the parking lot. I try to grab a stray cart when I arrive and I bring it into the store with me. Maybe it will keep someone from having a new dent.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Our grocery stores do not help the customers and they hire people to round up carts. I guess I am creating job security for them.

That's an excuse - another one that, unfortunately, lovetoscrap missed.

Same suggestion as above: Talk to store management. There's NO reason those same people hired to collect carts can't also help customers to their cars. If the store doesn't realize there's a need - and a solution! - for something, they won't do anything about it.

If that doesn't work, shop somewhere that provides the services you (any 'you') need. If someone shops at a certain location based solely on price, well, bluntly - you get what you pay for. The most helpful store around here (and we do have several options) is also generally the least expensive.