So I used to return my carts all the time. Then I actually talked to people who grab carts. They appreciate getting the stray carts because it’s the only time they have to check their phone and just get some time.
Then I asked myself… am I putting the carts away because that’s what I was trained to do by capitalism or is it because it’s the “right” thing to do? My response to that question is somewhere in the middle between the extremes.
The same people who leave trash within a few feet of a trashcan.
Your character is how you act when no one is watching.
I worked at a grocery store in the late 80s. It was not common to return your cart at that time. I think it is generally a good thing that society has moved to the expectation that you should return your cart. Most places where I live do not have the coin for a cart but one place does. Living without the coin for a cart is a fair trade for returning the cart to the corral, in my opinion.
Well how else is a cart going to bang into a car?
It takes three calories to push it that extra 12 feet. I thought this was America. Maybe they do this in Cuba.
Meh. When I walk past one on the way in, I grab it because I’m going to get one at the door anyway.
I park near the corral so it’s easy to return the cart. That’s all I do, but I don’t care what other people do. There are plenty of other things to get upset about that deserve our attention more.
In Europe you put a coin in to take the cart and get ir back when you lock it back in. Annoying, i know, but you can have a special token on your ring or keep a change in your car. But because of that, Carts are never a problem. Either people put it back, or some kids do it to get the coin. Either way, the car park is free of trolleys.
In the US Aldi grocery stores do this.
It has mixed effectiveness. Usually people put their carts up, but not always because “who cares its a quarter”.
Quarter is nothing! But i get it, US has mostly paper money. In Europe it’s usually 1 euro, or 2 euro.
The quarter could be just the price of going to Aldi, for some.
Does Aldi have a patent on requiring a quarter to use a cart, or something? I know people frequently don’t carry change much anymore, but it seems to work pretty well so I’m sure people encountering this ensure they have a coin or two handy.
What infuriates me more is how so many companies - including Walmart - have eliminated virtually ALL trash receptacles in the parking lots. That’s cheaping out to a ridiculous degree, IMHO.
My guess is the initial cost plus the additional maintenance--no doubt those coin slot jam sometimes-- plus the complaints from customers who don’t have a quarter is what keeps them from being more commonplace in the U.S.
Yeah, what is it with that? What happened to the trashcans? They disappeared last Spring here.
Fucking penny-pinching cheap-ass leeching billionaires.
My city council does the same. Over the years population and consumerism has built up, naturally, so the common effect is more trash.
- One: Many people aren’t incentivised to recycle and always use general use bags.
- Two: The council enforces a two bag limit on collection, and it can’t be a big bag or the collectors’ll slap a sticker on it saying it’s too dangerous to pick up. This results in more people relying on public bins to be hygienic and dispose of house waste.
- Three: Public bins don’t get emptied so often and therefore overflow. The council’s response? Remove the bin because it’s being ‘abused’. The effect? Trash gets piled up even more at the remaining bins.
- Four: Now there’s like three, maybe two council bins in the entire city, the public have to use private apartment and shop bins, so they overflow. When those are too full to close, the collectors issue a notice that it’s too dangerous to move, and the landlords and store owners are made to pay a large fee to get it removed by the same people out of hours. They foot the cost and are left scrambling to try and penalise the ones responsible for dropping the trash, the council pockets penalty money and does nothing because it’s no longer their problem.
There’s still the issue that the overwhelming majority, by statistics, doesn’t recycle. This can be addressed but isn’t.
So leave your garbage in a cart in a Walmart parking lot. Oh, but we don’t want to hurt the poor Walmart corporation my making them hire more people to deal with it - like with not putting a cart back in the coral.
No way.
Cunts just need to invest the bare minimum of effort required in order to be a member of society and return their trolley to the bay.
The coin lock thingy is shit.
I don’t love the solution, but if people need training wheels they need training wheels
At least in Germany, where Aldi originates from, that’s how almost all the carts work. Would doubt there’s a (valid) patent, the idea is decades old.
Your Walmart only has two carts like that!? The one near me (which I refuse to go into) looks like a shopping cart battlefield.
Walmart is the physical manifestation of not returning a shopping cart.
in some neighborhoods, you could literally have a cart corral next to every single parking space and somehow these lazy morons will still leave their cart in a parking space or driving lane.
Probably big regional differences. At the Walmart near me, there are very few stray carts. My guess is the ones in the middle of the city are much worse, though. I don’t go there.
TIL this exists
But I must say… “can’t leave a child unattended” is such an ass reason. Like, just bring the kids along? It’s good education for the kids too. If they’re a baby, well there are ways to carry a baby without using your hands. If you don’t have one, then fine, but I also tells me that you have no one to rely on to take care of a baby for an hour or even two when you need it, and it makes me wonder what your relationship is with those around you.
Exactly! I used to take one of my kids to Costco regularly. Just me and him. When he was too little to be left in the car while I returned the cart, I’d just take him with me when putting the cart back in the return area. It’s not that hard. People are just lazy. And the Shopping Cart Theory has a lot of merit to it.
It does get a little more complicated when you’re alone with three kids, but it’s not impossible. Put the kids in the car and walk the cart to the corral. If you’re in a parking lot where it isn’t safe to leave the kids alone in the car for 10 seconds, I’d recommend that you avoid shopping there.
Exactly. And depending on the kids, you could also make it a small, fun activity for them: help daddy/mommy/whatever you have your kids call you bring the cart to where it should be. It’d be no different from having the kids put their toys away, but just with something that may be beyond their strength, but you’re an adult, so just pull the cart from the side enough to help the kids move the cart and steer it to avoid hitting stuff.
If the kids are tired, have em just walk like 30s more? If you can’t even do that and your kid starts throwing a tantrum, then you have other problems with the kid and so you deal with it like you’re supposed to anyways. The kid isn’t going to just turn responsible without the parent doing something after all.
I love seeing people cry about carts not being “put away” in parking lots. Put that energy toward pressuring the multinational conglomerate that is undoubtedly mispricing items and stealing from employees’ paychecks to hire more people to patrol the lot for carts.
This gave me an idea. Is it possible to judge a society by looking at supermarket parking lots?
It’s possible, of course.
Is anything gained by doing so. Doubt.
No. In Germany this is unthinkable behavior, but our society is still shit.
Having spent a decent amount of time in Germany (but not integrating into society): what about it is shit? From an outsider’s perspective, you guys seem to have it mostly together. Sure AfD exists, a percentage of the population will always be trash. But social services are there, mass transit is acceptable, and the economy is probably the strongest in Europe.
Germany still has a good image, that is true. It’s very hard to address all your points without writing a book, so I keep it short. But if there is anything you are interested in more detail, let me know!
“AfD exists” is an understatement, especially when you look at the election results from yesterday
The far right is moving forward and minorities get crushed more and more like everywhere in the west.Social services - many people will be poor when they are old, because Germanys retirement system is broken. You need to make private investments in order to make a living, no matter how long you have worked. Regarding the health service - I made an appointment for a rheuma doctor 2 month ago, it will be in January 2027. I live in a major city with >600k inhabitants.
The mass transit is so shitty, I can’t even begin speaking about Deutsche Bahn without getting so angry it will kill my mood. In big cities, yes, busses and trams are well (as long as it is below 30°), but the rest is really bad.
The economy is in a downwards spiral, the state makes debts as never before, the car market is slowly overtaken by China, job losses are on the rise.
These are all problems that are independent of our government, which is one of the worst we ever had. Defense is the only sector where they have ambitions.
Ah, looks like you’re following ’murica’s lead. Don’t worry, it gets worse!
I am fully aware :( I am lucky to be a white heterosexual academic, but I fear a lot for my friends and all the people who aren’t resilient enough for this.
I don’t mean to be dismissive, but most of what you’ve described is present elsewhere to varying degrees.
Australia seems comparable on all points, although our pension / super system is not great but not terrible.
Our real estate market is shit, with most people priced out of the market over the last decade.
Sure, it’s happening in most countries of the west because of the demographic change and shifts in global power away from the US.
Even in France, the country who’s people literally invented being arrogant, selfish asses, I never see this.
Maybe it’s the fear of the extra physical exercise what prevents US Americans from bringing the cart back
You can certainly judge an individual by what they do with their carts, if not a whole society.
I think looking at this picture explains exactly why Americans voted for and elected trump… Twice
Cart Narcs dropping the ball.
*while waving light stick
Weeewooo beeebleeeeboooboooo - that’s not where the cart goes, sir.
It’s fucking Walmart. Why are you there?
You guys need to start cleaning your forests, they are making a mess in your parking lots. Probably a fire hazard.
