Coming up on my local news... Why people are...

[kaytieeldr]

... too lazy to return shopping carts.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Okay, I don't transcribe well, but this is what I could record:
There's a societal wave of laziiness - leaving carts in the lot. Poeple make excuses (when approached by the self-titled station 'carriage cop'): "I had kids in the car"; "Maybe when it's closer"; "You're right, I'll start putting my carts back".
Unspecified studies show that about three of ten shoppers don't return carts to the carriage corrals. The reporter interviewed a psychiatrist who indicated it's not just laziness. He said, "We dont' care if our cart hits someone's car because we've lost our sense of personal responsibility".

 

[Linda in sunny SC]

That is my biggest pet peave when people don't return their carts to the cart area. It has definitely gotten worse in say the last 10 -15 years or so.

 

[lillygator]

stores here have paid EMPLOYEES to gather the shopping carts....nothing new.

 

[bicker]

Generally, the system is such that the store employees are to retrieve the carriages from the corrals, but of course also retrieve the ones that customers-who-couldn't-be-bothered left in and around the parking spots. Of course, the reason why you should return carriages to the corrals is that they're less likely to cause damage to other people's cars, but a lot of people don't really care about damage to other people's cars, at least not as much as they care about their own expediency.

There are good excuses though: I don't see how a single parent with child/ren can return a cart to the corral, without committing a more grievious transgression of leaving their child/ren inadequately attended. I also think the infirm, who would incur a significant health risk from any non-essential additional walking, could be forgiven. There are probably other exceptions, but that's really the point: They're exceptions, defensible on the merits.

I think stores could do more: I think some stores are too skimpy with their distribution of corrals. I also think that stores that (deliberately) put a main flow of traffic in/out of their parking lots running right past the front of their stores must have corrals at the store-end of each aisle of parking stops, rather than expecting people to cross that danger zone twice. Within the field, it is probably reasonable to expect folks to walk X cars toward the exit and X/2 cars away from the exit (I know X/2 doesn't make rational sense but that's human psychology for you) to get to a corral. (X will differ in different areas -- the point is that the store needs to buy and place corrals based on what their consumers want, and then reflect the added costs of extra corrals [and perhaps even extra parking needed because of how many spots corrals take up] -- extra corrals therefore mapping to added value to the consumer -- in higher prices in the store.)

 

[ajk912]

stores here have paid EMPLOYEES to gather the shopping carts....nothing new.

To gather them from the cart corrals. Not to chase them all around the parking lot wherever the wind happens to send them.

To me, it's all the sense of entitlement. It just blows my mind, the sense of entitlement of people these days. Even if it WAS someone's job to chase carts all over the place, why not help someone out by putting it where it BELONGS? You really don't have an extra 30 seconds in your day to return a cart?

 

[kaytieeldr]

One woman they caught on camera walked her cart to a handicap parking space and left it there

 

[kaytieeldr]

stores here have paid EMPLOYEES to gather the shopping carts....nothing new.

Until those employees get to the carts, how can leaving the cart 'wherever' - for example, in a momentarily empty space; between two cars*; BEHIND a car; rolling through the parking lot - be justified?

Gotta agree with the assessment that we've lost our sense of personal responsibility. Man, is that ever a topic for its own thread...

*Invisible to employees scanning for carts, AND blocking driver access to one of the vehicles.

 

[aprilgail2]

There are good excuses though: I don't see how a single parent with child/ren can return a cart to the corral, without committing a more grievious transgression of leaving their child/ren inadequately attended.

oh please- that is the worst excuse of them all. How did they GET the cart in the first place- they WALKED their children with them or carried one and walked another over to GET the cart why can't they walk their lazy butts back over to put it away?? And before I get jumped on by single parents- I AM a single parent and I still manage to return my cart everytime!!

 

[kaytieeldr]

And I'm disabled and still manage to get my cart back across the 'roadway' to the safety of the wide sidewalk - and then go back to my car. Granted, where I need a cart to get my purchases to my car, the 'roadway' is not the busy access one bicker describes.

 

[Pooh67_68]

I always thought more stores should do what Aldi stores do.
Aldi charges a quarter to get a cart and when you return it you get the quarter back. You never see shopping carts litter the parking lot and I think its because people want their money even if it is just a quarter.


Not only do I return my cart to the corral, but will grab one that is just sitting in the lot to get it out of the way.

 

[GeorgeG]

A Publix employee will take your cart full of groceries out to your car, load them for you, and take the cart back to the store and they're not allowed to accept tips. Still, that doesn't excuse laziness. I can see that for someone who is very elderly/disabled, but not the average person who is healthy enough to do their own chores. Publix is also one of the most expensive places to shop.

Things like not returning carts are a sign we've lost respect for others and that leads to bigger issues. For a society that is supposed to be advanced, we sure seem to be going backwards.

 

[belle&sebastiansmom]

There are good excuses though: I don't see how a single parent with child/ren can return a cart to the corral, without committing a more grievious transgression of leaving their child/ren inadequately attended. I also think the infirm, who would incur a significant health risk from any non-essential additional walking, could be forgiven. There are probably other exceptions, but that's really the point: They're exceptions, defensible on the merits.

Thank you Bicker!

Sorry people, but my kids are more important than your car.

Now, I do try to park near a cart corral, that way I can get a cart immediately and put my kiddos in it on the way to the store. Makes it easier on me. At busy times, that doesn't always happen. I'm not going to leave my babies in a hot car, alone, even for a minute, to go seek out a cart station.

 

[cepmom]

oh please- that is the worst excuse of them all. How did they GET the cart in the first place- they WALKED their children with them or carried one and walked another over to GET the cart why can't they walk their lazy butts back over to put it away?? And before I get jumped on by single parents- I AM a single parent and I still manage to return my cart everytime!!

ITA with this...the "I have kids" excuse does not fly with me at all. I generally don't grocery shop with another adult, so I always have kids with me; sometimes a baby when I am babysitting. I load the kids in the car, load the groceries, then walk the cart back to the corral. What harm is going to come to the kids when I step away from the car for 5 seconds? I don't get it?
It's pure dirsregard for others and laziness if you ask me.

For those that feel it's the employees responsibility to gather the carts from wherever they happen to be left, how would you feel if you came out of the store to find a wandering cart has damaged your car; broken a tail light etc? Would you still feel the same way?

 

[Pooh67_68]

A Publix employee will take your cart full of groceries out to your car, load them for you, and take the cart back to the store and they're not allowed to accept tips.

Our local Weis store has employees that do this also.

 

[cepmom]

Thank you Bicker!

Sorry people, but my kids are more important than your car.

Now, I do try to park near a cart corral, that way I can get a cart immediately and put my kiddos in it on the way to the store. Makes it easier on me. At busy times, that doesn't always happen. I'm not going to leave my babies in a hot car, alone, even for a minute, to go seek out a cart station.

okay, so for example with the hot car here; why isn't it possible to load the bags, then walk to a cart corral with kids to return the cart, then walk back to the car with the kids?

 

[kangareaux]

That is my biggest pet peave when people don't return their carts to the cart area. It has definitely gotten worse in say the last 10 -15 years or so.

We've only had cart areas here for the past 10-15 years. before that the option was going all the way back into the store or leaving them in the parking lot for the parking lot attendants to retrieve.

 

[Serena]

Just the act of going grocery shopping on my own can become painful and by the end I can barely move, sometimes putting the groceries from the cart to the car is almost more than I can do, however I can't just stand there and wait on help that won't come. In those circumstances I leave the cart where it is, but unless and untill it is that bad, I always put it away.

I do forgive people though as long as they don't leave the cart in my way, or against my car. If you must leave it somewhere not where it belongs, please make sure it can't roll anywhere.




I normally take someone with me grocery shopping, or just get things that are light so I don't end up in pain for the rest of the day.

 

[Realgrumpy]

I always put my kids in the car first... then the packages.
My kids are my first priority.

 

[kangareaux]

ITA with this...the "I have kids" excuse does not fly with me at all. I generally don't grocery shop with another adult, so I always have kids with me; sometimes a baby when I am babysitting. I load the kids in the car, load the groceries, then walk the cart back to the corral. What harm is going to come to the kids when I step away from the car for 5 seconds? I don't get it?It's pure dirsregard for others and laziness if you ask me.

For those that feel it's the employees responsibility to gather the carts from wherever they happen to be left, how would you feel if you came out of the store to find a wandering cart has damaged your car; broken a tail light etc? Would you still feel the same way?

I see you live in MA. Spend a summer in Louisiana and tell me you'd leave your kids in the car while you return a cart. In late fall, early spring, and winter....yes I would. From about march to october here....no way. It's just too flippin hot. (Especially in a minivan where the back windows only crack open. When DH pulls over to get gas, it's sweltering in no time under a shaded canopy. A blacktop parking lot in direct sun turns my car into an oven.)

Now, like another poster I DO try to park near a corral so I can make use of it. But if it's a choice of leaving babies in a car that can EASILY be 120+ degrees inside (even a minute longer than nessicary!)or leaving the cart in the lot...guess which one wins!