Do people use their kids as an excuse?

[lillygator]

When my oldest was 3 I had him and newborn twins and I always managed to get my car back. Here is a tip, park next to the cart corral and you don't have to worry about "leaving your kids in the car". It also has the added bonus of having carts in them when you pull up to the store so you can put your kids right into the cart from the car and you don't have to worry about them getting run over in the parking lot.

Sorry, but your excuse is not valid, at all, it is just laziness and because of that, other people's cars are being damaged because of you.

Isn't name calling not allowed on the DIS...I am glad you know me so well to judge me whether I take my shopping cart back to the store or not. OBVIOUSLY you haven't read the thread or you would have read my stores don't have a corral...and it would not matter if they did.

and your routine may be good for you but it's not good for me. We shop...I take my kids in carrying one and holding the other one's hand - struggle through the shop, get back to the car lock and load the girls and then unload the groceries. I will not change my routine just because a few grocery cart returning nazi's seem to condem and judge everyone who doesn't.

Lot attendants are in full force at our Publix's and therefore cars get damaged more by the tourists than they do the carts.

ETA: 97.6278% of the time a bagger takes my cart out with me and helps load otherwise there is one outside doing their job of keeping the lot clear. In my 8 years shopping in this particular area I have probably left a cart maybe 3-4 times actually in the lot on the "island".

 

[palmtreegirl]

Isn't name calling not allowed on the DIS...I am glad you know me so well to judge me whether I take my shopping cart back to the store or not. OBVIOUSLY you haven't read the thread or you would have read my stores don't have a corral...and it would not matter if they did.

and your routine may be good for you but it's not good for me. We shop...I take my kids in carrying one and holding the other one's hand - struggle through the shop, get back to the car lock and load the girls and then unload the groceries. I will not change my routine just because a few grocery cart returning nazi's seem to condem and judge everyone who doesn't.

Lot attendants are in full force at our Publix's and therefore cars get damaged more by the tourists than they do the carts.

I think some posters are really over the top with the cart thing. I shop at Publix as well and they don't have corrals either, I usually never have to return one because there's always been an attendant near by who offers to take it. Or I just offer it to another shopper going in the store, usually one of the above happens or I'll return it up front. But.....

I'll admit that there have been times when I've left my cart out in the lot, when it's storming hard, I'll just put the front wheels up over the curb on a grass section. Another time there were some creepy looking people yelling things over at me so I just threw my stuff in the car and left the cart in the lot. So there you go, lock me up and throw away the key!

 

[rparmfamily]

I have children.

I will be late on occasion, but I will call. I will leave a cart in the parking lot on occasion, when I feel I have no other choice. I will want off Easter and Christmas because those are vital holidays to my family/children, but I will work on New Years Eve and day so you can get drunk.

It's all about compromise and doing what's best for your family at that point. If that means leaving a cart out in the pouring rain, so be it.

(BTW, I shop at Publix too and they don't have a single cart corral but they are the best grocery store ever)

 

[In a hurry]

I have children.

I will be late on occasion, but I will call. I will leave a cart in the parking lot on occasion, when I feel I have no other choice. I will want off Easter and Christmas because those are vital holidays to my family/children, but I will work on New Years Eve and day so you can get drunk.

You know, it sounds like you are saying that Christmas/Easter are not important to anyone without children...and those without kids just want to get drunk! A bit of a broadstroke processing, there!

 

[rparmfamily]

LOL, I said it that way to keep it light. I mean, I want to get drunk on New Year's too!!

 

[In a hurry]

LOL, I said it that way to keep it light. I mean, I want to get drunk on New Year's too!!

It just tickled me!

 

[VSL]

I haven't read the whole thread but yeah, I think that sometimes kids are used as an excuse to do/not to do something.

I particularly love, 'Well, I know I should eat healthier but my kids just love McDonalds and, you know, when you're there...' NNo, I don't know.
I mean, why not just not let your kids have McD's either? Don't use them as an excuse to not look after yourself (and you'd be doing them a favour too!).

(I'm not in the best shape myself and have major issues with food, but I don't blame my chocolate-loving boyfriend!)

 

[goofygirl]

To be fair, I have used the "Cats Card".

As in, "I have to go home and feed my cats."

 

[Marseeya]

I was just thinking about this and trying to figure out why it bothers me that people use their kids as an excuse for things. I think it's because it kind of makes us parents look bad. It's a little like saying, "I can't do such-and-such because I'm a woman" when plenty of women ARE able to do such-and-such just fine.

 

[Disneyrsh]

My husband's the inopportune pooper in this house. As soon as he hears the word "shopping," that's it.

OMG I just snorted my tea out through my nose, I"m laughing so hard....

 

[mookie]

We call that 'throwing someone under the bus', as in, "My wife won't let me play golf this weekend because she has a project for me to work on", to which I reply, "Oh, sure, throw me under the bus!"

i thought only MY husband did that!!!

 

[Zmsksirt]

We shop...I take my kids in carrying one and holding the other one's hand - struggle through the shop, get back to the car lock and load the girls and then unload the groceries. I will not change my routine just because a few grocery cart returning nazi's seem to condem and judge everyone who doesn't.

I have an idea. Put your small child in the shopping cart child seat. When you return to the car, your other child can help you unload the groceries from the cart into your car. You're child would most likely enjoy helping. After you've finished, you can push the cart back to the store and have your older child help push the cart. After you have returned the cart to the store, you can then remove your younger child from the cart and return to your car in the same manner you used to enter the store. I think that would work for you.

Isn't name calling not allowed on the DIS...

Yes, but we'll forgive the nazi comment.

 

[Nana Annie]

I think everybody uses excuses. It is not limited to parents. We have several childless friends that occasionally breeze in to a dinner reservation, saying something like "A conference call ran late", or on a weekend - sorry, had to run into the office for a minute and somebody cornered me.

A doctor friend will use the excuse that he got a page right before he had to leave. A lawyer friend occasionally has a "last minute brief that took a bit longer than expected - but had to get into the fellow partner." I think everybody has used a plausible excuse at one time or another.

 

[RitaZ.]

This isn't just limited to parents who use their kids an as excuse to avoid things they don't want to do. People use their jobs, schedules, financial situation, unreliable transportation, lack of sleep, stressful life and so on, as excuses all the time.

 

[Micca]

DDs are grown now, but we sure did use them as an excuse when they were little. They gotta be good for something

 

[DVC Sadie]

Wow!!!! You're going to ignore someone for one snotty statement?? If I did that, I'd have everyone on the DIS ignored except for Dan Murphy!!! Play nice or take it to the PM box if you're going to fight. The rest of us aren't interested in listening.

Back to topic...I don't have kids, so I can't play the "Kid Card". I have had the Kid Card played at me a lot though, especially at work. Folks with kids seem to think that everyone else in the workplace should revolve around their kids' schedules and needs. I can't tell you the number of times I've heard "Why do you need Christmas off? You don't have kids" in my 23 years of nursing. I can't tell you how many nurses get "Mom Hours" so they can come in after they get their kids on the bus, yet if I come in at that time, I am considered late. I can't tell you the number of Moms who have the expectation that they can leave early to go to Johnny's play, game, or whatever other event, and just expect that I will double my patient assignment by taking on their patients as well so they can leave.

They had a special segment on this on GMA last week. It was basically a wake up call for working moms who thought there should be more consideration given to them. The workers who had no children said they had had enough. Work wars are going on all over the country right now and I think you have every right to be treated equally in the workplace whether you have children or not. Just my 2 cents.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Hasn't anyone noticed that most of the people who don't return their carts & are being flamed for it are Floridians? I moved here from NC, & had a really hard time getting used to people leaving carts beside cars. Even after all these years, I will return mine out of habit. I'm no longer surprised by it though. If you go to one of our stores, odds are you are going to see multiple carts not returned. (Actually, most of them.) You very well may not see a place to return them to. Florida's a pretty flat state, & the only time we receive "huge gusts of winds" is if a hurricane is blowing through. If you haven't noticed, there's a bit of a difference in the parking lots in NC, (insert most other states) & FL.

I also believe that kids can be a reason for not doing things. We have an only child, which meant I didn't really need to use him as a reason. He went everywhere I did. I do think it would be much more difficult with more kids. Then again, what I really think is that it's none of my business what anyone does, except for my DH, DS, & I. The only time it really bothered me was when I had a friend who expected the world to stop so she could take her child home for a midday nap. I just learned to stop going places with her during the day.

 

[DVC Sadie]

Isn't name calling not allowed on the DIS...I am glad you know me so well to judge me whether I take my shopping cart back to the store or not. OBVIOUSLY you haven't read the thread or you would have read my stores don't have a corral...and it would not matter if they did.

and your routine may be good for you but it's not good for me. We shop...I take my kids in carrying one and holding the other one's hand - struggle through the shop, get back to the car lock and load the girls and then unload the groceries. I will not change my routine just because a few grocery cart returning nazi's seem to condem and judge everyone who doesn't.

Lot attendants are in full force at our Publix's and therefore cars get damaged more by the tourists than they do the carts.

ETA: 97.6278% of the time a bagger takes my cart out with me and helps load otherwise there is one outside doing their job of keeping the lot clear. In my 8 years shopping in this particular area I have probably left a cart maybe 3-4 times actually in the lot on the "island".

WOW, I can't believe you actually blamed tourists for damaging the cars.I understand you don't like tourists but this is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Marseeya]

Hasn't anyone noticed that most of the people who don't return their carts & are being flamed for it are Floridians? I moved here from NC, & had a really hard time getting used to people leaving carts beside cars. Even after all these years, I will return mine out of habit. I'm no longer surprised by it though. If you go to one of our stores, odds are you are going to see multiple carts not returned. (Actually, most of them.) You very well may not see a place to return them to. Florida's a pretty flat state, & the only time we receive "huge gusts of winds" is if a hurricane is blowing through. If you haven't noticed, there's a bit of a difference in the parking lots in NC, (insert most other states) & FL.

I wonder why that is. I know a few people have said that there are stores where attendants are there to bring carts in. Here in PA, they send baggers out to collect carts, but not all the time. And the parking lots are far from flat! As a kid (and I confess, sometimes as an adult ), I would stand on a cart and let it take me to my car because the parking lots are always sloped. You just can't leave a cart unattended around here.

 

[jodifla]

Hasn't anyone noticed that most of the people who don't return their carts & are being flamed for it are Floridians? I moved here from NC, & had a really hard time getting used to people leaving carts beside cars. Even after all these years, I will return mine out of habit. I'm no longer surprised by it though. If you go to one of our stores, odds are you are going to see multiple carts not returned. (Actually, most of them.) You very well may not see a place to return them to. Florida's a pretty flat state, & the only time we receive "huge gusts of winds" is if a hurricane is blowing through. If you haven't noticed, there's a bit of a difference in the parking lots in NC, (insert most other states) & FL.

.

Exactly. The rules for grocery carts are different in Florida.

Edited: Don't like it? Don't go grocery shopping in South Florida.