Because they are dicks? Is there any reasonable justification for not returning your cart? Claiming to be creating jobs is just BS. Either you strive to be a productive part of society or you only look out for yourself. The shopping cart indicator is a decent tool for separating these two types of people.

I always return my cart rain or shine no matter how far away the return is. But there was one time I didn't when I moved to a new neighborhood and went to the local grocer for the first time. This particular store shared a parking lot with a hardware store. I parked in a spot I thought was on the grocery store side of the lot, but I guess not? I bring my cart out and I'm almost to my car when suddenly the wheels lock up and I can't move the cart anymore. turns out they have a system in their carts to prevent people from stealing them. But I guess the zone for that is up to interpretation because I really feel like I was parked on the grocery side of the lot even if off to the side a bit. I ended up leaving the cart and just walked my groceries to my car. I blame the store for not properly marking the zone or improperly setting it in the first place. Not much I could do about it otherwise.

Try the German solution. To get a cart, you have to put a Euro into the cart to unchain it. When you return it, you chain it back on and get the Euro back.

Works for many years now, and people have been conditioned to it, so they return even "hacked" carts (there are tools to unchain them without a coin).

People will leave their trollies anywhere but in car parks. Bicycle rqcks? Fair game. Foot paths? Yeah sure. Car parks? Nah that would inconvenience people.

I’m a Midwestern transplant to Los Angeles. Honestly? It’s fucking hard to return your cart in Los Angeles. While my past self would call anyone out returning their cart an asshole, I can’t anymore because 90% of stores here just refuse to put out any cart corrals.

Over 500 Cart Narcs videos where watched to get this data. It was a fun read!

I really want to like this article, but I don't care for the example of the old man.

It's not the only example that's lacking any sense of nuance or empathy, but it's probably the worst. I say this as someone who has never left a cart out. I even used to put other people's away if they were on my way. I can be a rule-follower to a fault.

Anyway.

I'm not old, but I'm physically disabled such that I don't use carts anymore. It's just too hard, too exhausting, too painful. I almost never buy more than I can carry in a basket.

If I did push a cart (especially full) out to my car, me still being well enough to return it is extremely questionable. I'd likely have to sit and recover a bit before doing so. Being disabled this way can be a lot like just being really old. I've come to empathize with them so much more these past few years.

You could argue that we should ask for help from staff in that scenario, but how often do you see grocery store staff who aren't busy with something? It's probably less of a burden on them to gather that cart up whenever they gather the rest of the carts that haven't been returned.

But definitely "fuck you" to the lady who left her cart in the middle of a handicapped spot.

Why don't they just put AI into the carts so they return themselves?

I went to a futuristic distopian grocery store the other day. Awful time there. As I'm pushing the cart to my car in the parking lot, the wheels suddenly lock electronically as I cross some invisible threshold. "Fuck this" I thought, and took my bags out and carried them the rest of way to my car.

Leaving the cart, wheels locked, in the parking lot.

I wonder how much of this behavior is caused by enormous parking lots and shopping by car. where i live there is a packing area next to the cart return. I put my stuff into bags and backpack there, then return the cart. No hassle at all. If I had to go a couple of hundred meters to return the cart, I might come up with excuses too. Lots of our decisions are driven by the environment we live in. Reasons are made up after the fact.

We’re job creators