The Life of Bon: The ever important shopping cart debate

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The ever important shopping cart debate

Why hello there.

If you are visiting from Neely's blog today, an extra special welcome!  I'm so happy you decided to stop on by!  I'll give you the uber quick run down so that you know right away if you are interesting in sticking around or if you're going to fly the coop.

The name is Bonnie.  I write and sometimes I get in trouble for what I write, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles.  The husband's name is Greg and I've been told I would be a fool for letting the internet Gods know my husband's name because now they can steal our identities and invade our home, GASP!  Therefore, to protect us from cyber devils and because it seems somehow hip I have named him Hubs.  I pride myself on originality.

This is me when I'm trying to be cute and sexy.

This is me when I dress up as Voldemort for midnight Harry Potter premieres.
Personally, I think I am quite irresistible in both forms.

If you are still interested in me, (oh this sounds so romantic!) you have three options from here.

Option #1: You may read this post which will give you a very personal, loving tour of the blog.  There you'll find a guide of the greatest posts- the romantic ones, the ones about bratty teenagers, and even the scandalous ones.
Option #2:  You may check out my top ten most popular posts over there on the right sidebar.  They're not necessarily my favorites, but they're the readers' favorites.  Notice that half of them are perverted, and that says a lot about my readers, doesn't it?
Option #3:  Keep reading where you will find a weird confessional about me and shopping carts and then be allowed to give your opinion.

Really, you can't go wrong!

Now, for weird confessional time.  I am going to write about a trip to the grocery store, but I'm a tad nervous because last time I wrote about the grocery store, I was torn apart by both friends and enemies.  I confessed that I had parked in a free handicapped spot, ran in lightening quick, and was out of the store in less than 3 minutes flat.  No harm no foul.

Or so I thought.

The replies I received were phenomenal- straight up unbelievable, actually.  Responses varied from outrage to indifference to thinking I was the scum of the Earth to applauding my openness.

I learned my lesson from the incident and you will all be very happy to hear that since then I have been 100% handicapped parking free.  I'm clean!



And now I am here with another grocery store confessional-  get your tip typing fingers ready because you are going to have to share your opinion on this one!

Saturday night I was stopping by the grocery store for usual Saturday night staples.  On my way in I passed an employee who seemed to be in a disgruntled mood.  You know when you're walking real fast and you kind of cut someone off, but you don't realize until after?  That's what I did to this dude.  I don't think I would have noticed at all had he not yelled after me, "After you, ma'am!" in a snooty little voice that was dripping with sarcasm.

I felt bad for the guy.  I always feel bad for people who have to work on Saturday nights.  I spent many a Saturday night inside the prison bars of Sizzler, so I know how bad it sucks.  I also felt bad because this guy was in his mid 40s.  Life deals us all different hands, but when I see a man in his mid 40s working at the grocery store, I figure he wasn't dealt very fairly.  So I tried to smile back, shrug it off, and act like I didn't mind his rude remark.

Later, loading the groceries into the car, I noticed the guy was gathering up shopping carts.  I carefully placed mine to the side, cognizant to not block any of the perfectly good parking spots. As I was doing this, the man emphatically pointed to the cart return and then yelled out to me from across the parking lot, "The carts go over here, MA'AM!"
Emphasis on Ma'am.
As if the dude was mocking me.
As if he didn't think I was deserving of the title "ma'am" at all.
Oh, I felt the sting.

Naturally, I chose to do what I do best.  I ran away.  I acted like I didn't hear him, left the cart as it was, and drove away without looking at the man.  I guess in a way I felt embarrassed- as if this guy had pegged me to be some kind of grocery store demon who purposely made his life into an endless hell when really I was just grabbing some grub.  I couldn't quite shake the feeling all the way home that what I had done was wrong.

I'll admit this, I have never gone out of my way to return carts.  As far as I see it, the work of the employees is built into the cost of groceries.  When I buy my groceries, I am not only paying for the food, but for the cashier, the A/C inside the grocery store, and yes, even the man who fetches my wandering shopping cart.  If there were cheaper groceries where it was required you return your own shopping cart, I'd be all about it.  But whereas this man who retrieves shopping carts exists, I feel like it is in my best interest to use him.

And now.  Spill your guts.

Agree?

Or disagree?

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60 comments:

  1. I had a pretty serious response to your handicapped parking question, so I'm glad you won't think I'm mean two times in a row!

    I worked in retail for 5 years. Dealing with carts was a pain. But when I told my cart attendants to go out and gather carts, and they whined about people who didn't put them in the corrals, I said "job security my friend" and handed them their safety vest.

    I just wouldn't recommend this practice during christmas because blocking a potential spot with a lazy cart method could cause an altercation. haha

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  2. Ok, I'll go first, haha. I could not disagree with you more on this one! As someone who was that cart collector for years, and doing so for just $5.15 an hour and sometimes in the middle of a hot summer's day in Las Vegas, there is nothing that I appreciated MORE than a customer who returned their carts to the appropriate cart corrals.

    I get your reasoning, but the person who is collecting all of those wandering carts is at the bottom of the pay totem pole at that store. He/she is working hard to get a raise and move up to another position. It's just common courtesy to put a cart where it goes. It's not as if they're asking you to walk it all the way back to the store front.

    And I can't even tell you how many times I had to go running after carts that went rouge and slammed into or almost slammed into other's cars because they were not appropraitely corralled. And then I would get yelled at by customers!

    So to sum up, please walk the extra 10 feet to put your cart in the cart return :)

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  3. I totally agree with the fact that employees (whether they're 40 and working at a grocery store or not) should work for their pay. But I do have an issue here.

    My issue with shopping carts not going back into their designated corrals is that I have dents all over my once-beautiful car because of carts that have been on one end of the parking lot and have magically (I swear there's some evil wind demon out there to get me) ended up bouncing off of the side of my car. If they were in their lovely home, they wouldn't be bouncing off of the side of my car.

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  4. Girl! You are asking for it!! I won't even factor in the poor employee who has to gather all the carts from the insane heat to the inside but what about the innocent people's cars that get dented by those wandering carts? I always park close to the cart return because I have two babes I have to load up and out and being close by the return just makes it all easier. I probably have a different point of view than you because of the fact that I have babes and I know you don't as of right now. I am willing to bet you change when you have babes who are watching and learning from your actions. Putting the cart into the corral is the right thing to do, period. Sounds cheesy and boy scout-ish but it is how I feel. I still love you, though...and your ability to get people fired up;)

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  5. My {humble} opinion. Ha. Everyone - and their Momma - should put their shopping carts in those coral thingies. Every.single.time. With that said I still love you! Just put your cart in a coral thingy next time, pretty please ;P

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  6. Lara B.10:20 PM

    I'll be honest, I put my cart in the corral thing about 50% of the time and I don't feel bad about the times that I don't. I have had some pretty menial jobs in my day so I understand that it sucks if you are the one putting the shopping carts away, but a sucky job is better than no job... I will continue to not always put my shopping cart away with no feelings of guilt, and I give you permission to do the same :)

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  7. I'm not a fan. I worked at Target and just because they paid me to fold shirts doesn't mean that that gives you liberty to unfold the entire table just to take half a glance at a shirt when I literally just spent 45 minutes making it beautiful. I do have other stuff that I am responsible and it is extremely frustrating to WATCH people make my job a little bit harder. Being a cart attendant is hard work. The very least I can do is put my cart away in the right spot. People who say that they don't put carts away or they don't use self check-outs because other people get paid to do that for them are just rationalizing their actions in my opinion. Yes, it is part of my job description, but my job is not to pick up after guests.

    That said, I have dumped my cart in the middle of the parking lot before, but it's very rare, usually because there's a corral every five parking stalls and it's just easier for everyone. But most of the time I try to take my bags out of my cart before I leave the store. Just makes everyones lives a little bit easier.

    Also I didn't realize I was three paragraphs sensitive about this topic. Ha!

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  8. I think the nice thing to do would be to put your shopping cart in the correct place. Heck, sometimes I put other people's carts in the correct place because it's on the way to the cart parking. There have been times where I have tried to park, but couldn't because there was a shopping cart there and actually, one time there was a guy who rode one of the electrical wheelchairs out to the driver's side of his door and then left it right there and took off. Needless to say, we were parked right next to him. Do I need to say LAZY?! Or maybe EXTREMELY INJURED?! Anyways, it was an inconvenience.

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  9. Hi Bonnie,

    I am a recent follower and have not read the Handicapped parking post, (which I will now check out) But regardless of the fact I think you are a good person and good people can't be good all the time! ;)

    I personally have never parked in a handicapped spot, but lets be honest. There's usually a bunch of them and they're usually always all open. I'm sure in the 3 minutes you were in the store nobody was trying to park there. Plus there was probably another next to it.

    As far as the carts go. I as well as the girl above only park my my carts in the corral half the time. If there is a cart place near by I will always put it there, but if not i park the cart up on the curb or in what I think is a "safe spot for it." Yes the guy has a shit job, but he chose that job. There are other minimum wage paying jobs out there that don't involve hauling carts in 20 degree or 100 degree weather. As for what he said to you. Even if you did cut him off it was not acceptable. Being in the customer service business myself, I may think a customer is a real... "You know what." I would still not be rude to them just because I am having a bad day.

    I'm on your side all the way!

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  10. Personally, I make sure the shopping cart is where it needs to go. Actually, I tend to take one of the carts that are out of place on my way to the store and use that. Maybe I'm too caring about other people? I don't know.

    At the grocery store my mom works at, the cashiers have to go gather the carts. This takes away time from they are at their registers ready to serve the customers. Then the customers are in lines longer and wouldn't it have just been better for everyone if they had to go to one place to get the cart, rather than all over?

    Also, it makes everything look tidier. Do you really want to go to a parking lot and see carts EVERYWHERE? I didn't think so.

    All in all, I live by the rule "leave things the way you found them, if not better"

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  11. I put my carts in the corral and you better believe that is a conscious good deed to society- that's about what I have to offer! Won't tell you all the things I'm doing to screw society over that makes me feel like I need to corral my cart to ease my troubled conscious (ie: parking in handicapped spaces!) haha!

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  12. I'm one of those "Do-gooders" who will pick up trash I see even if it is not mine. But I'll admit, sometimes I don't put my cart back in the correct spot. I'd say about 70% I do. But sometimes (like yesterday) I really couldn't fathom the extra 20 feet after the day I had had. I think, it's not gonna determine your eternal salvation hahaha

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  13. My personal rule...put the cart in the cart cage.

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  14. Anonymous11:57 PM

    1st off, I don't understand how people are this passionate on this subject.

    I put my cart in if we're close to the cart thing. If not, I don't worry about it but hubs does usually take it back so I guess our cart goes in the cart collection thing the majority of the time.

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  15. I always feel bad to when I see someone who is in their 40s or older working at the grocery store or delivering pizzas. I always feel like such a bratty little girl when I pass by them at work cause I'm sure life wasn't fair... I get pretty sensitive about that stuff and feel guilty, ha.

    But with the shopping carts. I {usually} put them back because kind of going along with what I said above, I just feel bad for the workers at the bottom of the totem pole and so I figure it doesn't take much effort on my part to make their job easier. But that's just cause I know it will eat at me for a long time if I don't do it. But my husband hates doing it and tries to convince me to just leave it so we can get our crying toddler home faster, ha. So everyone is different. I'm sure it won't affect your eternal salvation so it's probably fine if you don't put them back all the time ;)

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  16. Anonymous2:59 AM

    I refuse to use a cart, would rather struggle with 8 or so bags. Our carts or trolleys as they're called in New Zealand are metal and if one rolls into your car there is often damage to the paint or panels.
    Those dinky looking plastic ones look harmless so good on you for supporting the economy ;)

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  17. In Denmark, where I live, we don't have employees who are supposed to go around fetching carts. You're expected to put them back yourself, and if you don't, well, then you're a jerk. I never even considered just leaving your cart for someone else to get before reading this post. It doesn't mean our groceries are cheaper - I've been to the states, everything is cheaper than here, especially food, but in Denmark you're just expected to put things back yourself. And call me naive, but I think the world would be a better place if we all just cleaned up after ourselves, and not expected someone else to do it - even if it's what they're getting paid for.

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  18. Ashlie6:23 AM

    It's more for the car dents than job security. Plus, if people's cars get dented more and more because people don't put them in the coral, they may sue and make the store pay for damages. If the store has to pay for more and more car damages, then your food/goods go up and you end up paying for it also. Circle of life. Plus even if you claim it on your own insurance or pay out of pocket for your dent to be fixed, it's such a time consuming annoying process.

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  19. I definitely get what you're saying about job security. I'm one of those halfsies people, sometimes I put the cart away, sometimes I don't. If I don't I do try and push it out of the way so it won't mysteriously hit someone's car cuz I know I'd be peeved if a cart hit my car!

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  20. I always try to park in the spot next to the cart return dao its easy. Unless I'm a billion months pregnant and I take the closest spot to the front door, and honey, we all know I'm not walking my whale of a body any farther to return that darn cart. (hello run on sentence)

    Also can we please talk about people who eat grapes out of the bag at the grocery store? You know since you pay by the oz, it's kinda stealing? Not so bad if you're eating out of the bag you're buying, but yesterday I came across Mexican couple just eating out of several bags for like 5 minutes, and then walked away without buying any grapes!

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  21. I hate that this is my first comment on your blog, buut....

    You're being a bit of an asshole by leaving the cart. I love ya Bon Bon, but my car has a HUGE dent in the driver door because someone left their cart out and it went rogue and hit my car at warp speed. Now when I see carts out and about I will personally take it back to the cart parking space. I'm the crazy lady who is putting like...5 carts away after she's done shopping. You really need to put the cart in it's home.

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  22. Sorry girl! I have to disagree! I 100% go out of my way to put away my cart. And I'll even put away a random cart someone else has left. It is honestly one of my biggest pet peeves when people don't want to walk 5 extra feet to put them away. And I've never worked collecting carts, it's just something my dad's always done, and I guess I learned by watching him! Still adore you :P Agree to disagree right?

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  23. You weren't kidding. There are a lot of crabby people who comment on your blog.

    For me, I put a cart in the corral if it is nearby. If it is across the parking lot where I either can't see it or need binoculars, my cart gets left in a nice place nearby. There are people who get paid to collect the carts so I don't feel bad. I never expect anyone else to do my job for me. I've worked in retail and food services as well and I get that things can suck but, guess what, that is the profession I chose so I deal with the consequences.

    It comes down to this: it's your cart, do what you want with it. If anyone harasses you about where you stick your cart, give me their number and I'll go have a chat with them. :)

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  24. Seems like I am in the majority here, siding with you.
    I usually put the cart into the corral, but I don't make it a priority. I do think that the workers have a job to do. That includes gathering carts. And that also includes bagging my groceries without a tip. That's their job, and they get paid for it. Sure, it doesn't pay much, but it doesn't require any education either. Just my 2 cents.

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  25. First off Bonnie, I think you are a hoot and a brave soul to put stuff like this and the handicap post out there for everyone to tear you up over.

    That being said, totally disagree. I'm one of those people who will return other carts that people were too lazy to put away. There is a place for them for a reason! The guys getting them back into the store do get paid for that task but like many people here have said they don't get paid that much for doing it.
    Plus it really pisses me off, because like many others have said here, I'd like to keep my car in good looking shape without cart digs all over it.


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  26. It seems like a lot of people have summed up my thoughts on this subject. I worked at a grocery store for 2 summers, but as a cashier, I rarely had to go get carts. When I did, I really hated it, especially when I had to walk to the opposite end of a parking lot for a cart. I don't think it's job security at all like some have said, because I don't know of any store in which there are employees who get carts full time. Where I worked, the baggers had to get them.

    It's pretty easy for me to put the cart in a corral, and I figure anything I can do to make someone else's job a little easier is worth doing. Also, I'm a major stickler for "rules," and while this isn't an issue about rules, in a way it feels like it, so I follow it 100% of the time.

    Do I think less of you? Of course not. You're not scum, and I think you're being attacked a little bit by some of these comments.

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  27. whats important here is that you moved it out of the way of the parking spot. because nothing is worse than finding a good parking spot only for it to be taken by a flippin shopping cart. props for your honesty!

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  28. once again, so many high horses! whatever. seriously that guy is cranky and shouldn't have made you feel like dirt. i'm the type to grab a few carts and put them away but it's not like i mutter the whole time about hating the people who left them out. i've been the one that's in a hurry and doesn't want to face the mean guy too! in your situtation i would've done the same just because who knows what other snarky comments the guy would've said if you went over there...

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  29. wait! what? you DON'T put your cart away 100% of the time? wow. you're kinda the devil! :)
    as long as you dont steal puppies or blow second hand smoke in babies faces or park in handicap places im still gonna like you. :)

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  30. Like others said I usually try to if nothing else than to not get door dents and steal parking spots....

    That being said...I often push my cart to the side while I'm finishing loading the groceries. If that employee would have said that to me I would have left the cart where it was and went inside and told his manager. Sucky job or not, I don't go to a business to buy items to be taunted by employees.

    I love you honesty in your blog as well. Lots of people do these things and will never admit it! :)

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  31. I'm following you now too! Love your hair! :)

    Diana
    www.picturesand1000words.blogspot.com

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  32. I might be an over achiever here; I usually walk my cart all the way back in the store to put it away...unless it's raining, but it always at least makes it to a corral.

    At our grocery, there are too many corrals for me to understand why someone doesn't...I don't know if I'd feel the same if it weren't such a small lot with so many corrals (especially when someone is parked right next to the corral and they can't be bothered).

    That said, I think this employee was seriously out of line. He can be annoyed with you, but he should not have said a word. In all honesty, I might have walked my cart right back into the store and asked for a manager had it been me.

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  33. Whadda know, another person who's not a cart returner ;) If the thing is literally my neighbor I usually put it in the holder but if I have to walk awhile to do it, and I see others not in the holder, I'll usually pair it with the others because the people have to come to get them too, right? ;)

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  34. I have never know a more selfish, ungrateful....just kidding :) My opinion on this is the same as with the handicapped parking: if going just a liiiittle out of my way makes someone's day just a little easier I'm gonna do it. Like parking a few extra spaces away to leave room for someone who might be having a bad day or putting the buggy away to help someone who, like you said, was already dealt a pretty crappy hand.

    Oops. Can I say crap here?

    Oops. I did it again....crap.

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  35. Just found your blog from Neely's. I think this is too funny because I always have to put my cart back. I can't deal with the guilt of leaving it out somewhere.

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  36. Firstly, you as Voldemort is HILARIOUS. Secondly, people who do not return carts are not cool! It's the job of the people to get them from the little corrals, not to gather them all over the parking lot! haha. I guess it bothers me because here in Texas most of the time there is no parking and when I start to pull into a spot and realize there's a cart in there, I use words that I shouldn't! haha. No worries though, your Voldemort picture totally redeems you =P

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  37. ok, i live in england and over here i think the english have sussed this problem, because they have come up with the clever solution that we put £1 in our shopping trolleys or carts to you guys, in order to use them, without putting in that £1 the carts are all attached and therefore can not be taken to be used inside the shop. At the end of your shop, you WILL return the cart and attach it once again to another cart as you want your £1 back, if you were to just leave the cart lying around you wouldn't get the money back and someone else could easily come along and attach it up and claim your pound back. So i REALLY think the english have sussed this out, maybe the americans should follow suit!? LOL
    LOVE YOUR BLOG BTW
    Ana X

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  38. One of my biggest peeves is when people don't put carts away... Mainly because obviously no one enjoys walking all over the parking lot to find a cart return or walking back into the store to put it back esp. on a hot or rainy day etc, but it is the right thing to do, and when I see totally capable people just leaving theirs in a spot (where they most always get hit by the wind and hits a strangers car that didn't do anything wrong but park by the wrong person) or on a curb etc. It looks to me like they are thinking "I am better, more important, busier then everyone else. I don't have to follow the morality rules of putting my toys away after I use them.... For some reason it fits in the same category as littering to me, in the sense that it isn't really THAT hard to walk a few extra feet to do the right thing and put it where it belongs ya know?

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  39. stopping over from neely's blog

    u cracked me up...we could sooo be best friends..

    and as your new best friend...i'll have to spank you for not putting ur cart up...it's a pet peeve of mine...hence why I ALWAYS park by the buggy return...easier putting up

    ive seen one too many carts that ppl leave w/o putting up...blow away in the wind and smash into someone's car. i feel bad for the car...so before the wind comes and blows 10 or so into your car ...start putting them up bahahaha

    that being said....i still like you..and we are still BFF's! (grins)

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  40. I was about to profess my love for you b/c of your awesome HP premier costume until I read on and saw that you're one of those people who leaves the cart out of the holders. LOL Drives me bonkers. I make it a point to put it where it goes even when the kid is on my hip and I have other things to haul back to the car. I'm a rule follower, though I suppose. I hate going in the out. It feels icky and wrong.

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  41. Hahaha I LOVE how many comments your "controversial" posts like this get! I myself will walk way out of my way to return my cart to the cart container thing. And if I don't see one, I walk it back inside the store. I think I'm scared of someone seeing me "breaking the rules" and calling me out like that crazy guy! Also, when I see one blocking a spot I get SO mad! Plus, I once was sitting in the car waiting on my hubby outside the grocery store, and I saw someone let their cart go after they unloaded...and it slammed into our car! I honked the horn and gave them a dirty look...so now I always worry about our cars! But I still think you're a lovely person ;)

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  42. I love the drama ha ha. Sorry, but I am all about using the cart return. People leave carts around and they either block parking spaces or go careening towards another parked car. My position is that the cart returns are there for a reason. Thanks for the fun debate.

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  43. Woah. Holy comments! First I'm a new follower and was going to say I just posted about the grocery store too but it was more about strawberries and penis.. Carts though, well I have 2 kids so if the corral is there, in the cart goes but if not well then it just doesn't go. :)

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  44. I worked in retail foreverrr and honestly LIKED going out on a cart run. It was nice to get out of the store and away from needy customers! I do hate that my car has tons of dents everywhere, but it's a piece of crap anyway ;) When it comes to me putting carts away, I do so if the stall is close by (which is everywhere, but Costco) otherwise it goes on the curb.

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  45. My effort directly correlates with the store's effort of placing their corrals.

    If they are going to put enough of them in so that I only travel a few parking spots to the nearest return, consider me a valuable member of society.

    But when I'm at crazy Costco on a hot day and they expect me to walk back to the front of the store and leave my kid in the car, fuggitaboutit. I'm glad they saved their money, but they are also getting a cart propped up on their curb.

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  46. First off, how do so many people know what the word corral is and second- of course I don't put the cart back. I'm too lazy.

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  47. Oh, Bonnie. You live such a controversial life. ;) I return the carts because I think it is the kind thing to do. And if I was working at a grocery store, that is what I would want others to do. P.s. The He Who Should Not Be Named photo - wowzers! You did some good make-up there, dear. :)

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  48. I always return my carts, but only because I hate when I try to pull into a parking spot and there's a cart there! UGH! Or when a wandering cart smashes into my car and scratches it. (Not like I drive some hot whip though. It really shouldn't bother me.)

    I also used to work at a greenhouse and I had to gather carts often. But it was a nice change of pace (and temperature!) from my usual cashiering job inside the steamy greenhouse. So in that case...I kind of enjoyed when customers didn't return their carts.

    Lastly, I lived in Germany for a while growing up and there you had to pay to get a grocery cart. It wasn't much, maybe the equivalent of a dollar. And then when you returned the cart, you got your dollar back! Brilliant idea right? Those Germans.

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  49. ok, why is everyone talking about carts, when the REAL highlight of the post is volde-bon-mort?? Creepy!! You or whoever dressed you up did a good job! :)
    ok. now I'll talk about carts. you've never returned your cart to the stall? geez, my mom ingrained that into my brain like it was as necessary as wearing a seat belt! whatever floats your boat though. gotta give the workers SOMETHING to do.

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  50. First regardless of whether I agree with you on the shopping carts, the dude was a jerk. As an employee, his first priority (no matter his position) should be customer service and even in a bad day, he shouldn't be rude. I've been there and that's my motto.

    But... you my friend should really return those carts, not for the grumpy guy who's collecting them but because they roll around and ding people's cars. And it really is a pain to park around carts.

    My biggest complaint is why do they have limited "corrals" for them?? I mean put one every 10 spots and this wouldn't be an issue anyway!

    But regardless of your handicap parking or non-cart returning self I still love reading you LOL!

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  51. i return carts 75% of the time. i don't think i'm being a bad person for not returning. in my target lot, there are literally 2 corrals in the side lot where i park, and MOST of the time I am far away from them. so is that lazy? yes, but i have a right to be lazy at times. and personally i don't care. my car has been dinged many times by other peoples carts. yeah it sucks but what goes around comes around. but to make me not seem like such a terrible B, i do always roll the cart up onto the median/grass so its not moving in the wind!!

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  52. So, I really like your honesty. I am trying to do this with my blog, but I know I will offend so many- but I love reading you blog.
    I personally always put my cart away, my mom always hated it when people wouldn't put them away- so I always do. My husband does not, and honestly, since having a baby + my husband is beginning to rub off on me. But I REALLY like your view on why you don't- and I agree with you. I kinda feel the same way about tipping/food bill (given restaurants pay minimum wage).
    If I were in your shoes, I think I would have done the same thing. But I also probably would have felt bad.

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  53. Because of my husband I now put the carts back in the cart bin...whatever it is called. He worked at a grocery store, hated it, and would tease me about putting carts back in the bin. That said, there are times when we are in a rush and need to just leave it there. Sorry it's a job, all jobs come with duties no one wants to do. People have bad days or have jobs they hate, but honestly workers need to be grateful they have said job and not tai tout the bad days on the customers because that can come back and bite you in the ass and leave you jobless....make sense?

    I try to be nice and put the cart away, if not then oh well.

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  54. I used to get those grocery carts, and it wasn't bad! The only times it was bad was in the blazing heat of the summer, or the snow, when it was almost impossible to push. It taught me hard work, which I didn't mind. HOWEVER, I have seen carts dent cars and break car windows when they take off randomly across the parking lot. I always make sure to return mine to the store if I'm close enough, or the cart corral.

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  55. I hate using store carts anymore. I have had several altercations with store employees that were displeased with where I put my cart when I was done. I recently purchased my own cart for use at the grocery store. I do not like using the store-provided carts any longer because of having to deal with putting it away and not to mention how dirty and germy those things tend to get. And I have to say that I really enjoy my new folding shopping cart. It is light and extremely compact when folded…and better yet, I know where it's been!

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  56. When you worked at Sizzler, did you appreciate if people did not make a huge mess at their table and maybe even tidied it up for you by putting all their napkins on the same plate? It's kinda like that. You don't HAVE to put it back but it is a nice gesture, just like not leaving a hotel room yucky for the chambermaid. As a former Tim Hortons employee and chambermaid, I know I appreciated small efforts. I didn't mind cleaning up a kid's mess but adults should know better. I make an effort to clear my tray from a fast food restaurant as I have seen professionals leave a giant mess. In a little way it is doing people a little service which doesn't take much of our time or effort.

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  57. I return the cart to the corral. It takes two seconds to do, saves dings in cars, and might make someone's day a little bit easier.

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  58. Oh and also, you look like Britney Spears in her shaved head days in your Halloween pic! LOL!

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  59. These people aren't paid squat, the smaller the chain the worse it is. Every grocery store is under staffed, I know folks that work at several in my area and the managers ALWAYS understaff, then different folks get stuck picking up additional work on top of what they already have to do. My parents taught me to pick up after myself, to help others and to be courteous. (Hey, still working on it, lol) i always put my cart up. I also refuse to use self checkout and put someone out of a job, but thats another story!

    Setting aside all that, its a safety issue with threse carts. If you don't put yours up I guarantee you eventually one of your carts WILL either wind up damaging someones car or injuring someone. I've seen wind hurl these things across a parking lot! Eventually your car WILL take damage from someones cart, that, unfortunately, is when people really start to think about it. Plus, it's just damned lazy. Anything else is just self justification. ...and just admit it, cause we all do it with something in our lives and hate to admit it! ;)

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  60. These people aren't paid squat, the smaller the chain the worse it is. Every grocery store is under staffed, I know folks that work at several in my area and the managers ALWAYS understaff, then different folks get stuck picking up additional work on top of what they already have to do. My parents taught me to pick up after myself, to help others and to be courteous. (Hey, still working on it, lol) i always put my cart up. I also refuse to use self checkout and put someone out of a job, but thats another story!

    Setting aside all that, its a safety issue with threse carts. If you don't put yours up I guarantee you eventually one of your carts WILL either wind up damaging someones car or injuring someone. I've seen wind hurl these things across a parking lot! Eventually your car WILL take damage from someones cart, that, unfortunately, is when people really start to think about it. Plus, it's just damned lazy. Anything else is just self justification. ...and just admit it, cause we all do it with something in our lives and hate to admit it! ;)

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