Interestingly, there was a time not too long ago where there was no such thing as returning your carts. No place to put them, and store employees fetched them. I always return my cart so it doesn’t blow away and smash into someone’s car - but I bet a lot of boomers think nothing of leaving it wherever - because that’s kind of what you did.
I’m sorry but there’s No way even boomers get a pass. It’s been expected to return your cart to the stall for longer at least 30 years. In some places you even had to put $1 into the cart to use it and got it back when you returned it ($1 was also a lot more 25 years ago).
There’s really no excuse for not returning the cart today and anyone who fails at this simple task of self-governance is no better than animal.
But who expects you to return it? The company that owns the store? What if I don’t return it in protest of their corporate greed? Who are they to make me do manual labor for free after I just paid them‽ Back in my day they would load your car for you. Lazy company CEOs are too busy counting money to keep their parking lots in order! lol
Yeah, but when you leave it in the middle of the parking lot you’re senselessly adding more work for the poor employee who probably is paid minimum wage to bring the carts back into the building…
I’ve heard the same. If there are no carts to retrieve, then that one manager who takes his job FAR too seriously will find some much more shitty extra work for you to do. Slow-rolling the carts back to the front is definitely an extra break, from what I understand.
They also employees who will clean up feces that are in the aisle but that doesn’t mean you should take a shit on the floor in the produce section.
Leaving carts in the spaces blocks access to spaces, leaves carts that can be blown into parked spaces, and causes extra work for employees. Just walk your cart back. Spoiler: if you don’t want to walk far, just park next to the cart return. It’s not that hard.
My local Big Blue Store has a cart corral right next to the bus stop, which I actually think is cool. I hate the Big Blue Store make no mistake, but that one particular thing they do is cool.
On a side note, my grandmother is always thankful when someone leaves a shopping cart by the parking space, because she leans on them to help her walk, and it’s often hard for her to walk the distance from the car to the stall.
Depends on their age. They were the reason I didn’t take the cart back when they were very little. I didn’t want to leave them in the car and go to the other side of the parking lot.
Edit: what I mean is you don’t always get a choice of parking spot. Of course I took my cart back if it was within reach. But in the cases it required going too far from the car when I had babies inside, I didn’t.
Where I am, to unlock a cart, you have to insert a coin, and afterwards, to get the coin back, you have to lock the cart to another cart (that’s hopefully part of the pile). It mostly works.
I’ve seen a lot of places here drop this system. I have no idea why. Then again, you could also just go to the info and get a plastic thing to unlock them.
They stop doing it often because it gets homeless people coming to the store specifically to return carts that people didn’t return so they can collect the refund.
I would hope someone realized it accomplishes nothing except being a mild annoyance for customers. Most people return the carts anyway and it doesn’t really stop anyone from stealing them if they really want them (or rather buying them for ~1 euro).
I’m not so sure. It’s a really small push but people from places where it exists only in some places and where in others they don’t return the carts it seems to be working. Here they are returned, but we are so used to the coin system that it might be leftover from that. Anecdotally I’ve noticed people leaving them wherever more if there’s no coin system. But also my area has a lot of first generation and very recent immigrants so they might’ve never been with the system to begin with. Or it’s a cultural thing. Dunno. Might be all the reasons.
I do think there’s regional variation. In general, we don’t have this system in the US, except for a few grocery stores that are US divisions of European companies. I’ve lived in a few different areas in the country, and in some areas it seems like very few people return their carts and just leave them wherever, while in other areas, people are more conscientious about it. I rarely see a stray cart in the grocery store lots where I live now, for example, but when I lived for a few months in another city, it seemed like everyone just left the cars where they wanted.
I think there’s kind of a peer pressure thing going on, too - people start doing one or the other, and everyone else follows. “He didn’t return, why should I?” vs “Oh, she returned her cart, I should, too.”
Based on your username, I’m going to make the wild assumption that you live in Finland. I’m old enough to remember when we didn’t have this system in Sweden, and stray shopping carts was never a problem back then. Anectotal and my memory may be a regional thing, sure, but where I live, most people would just put the carts where they belong because it would break the societal norm if they didn’t. And my point is just that this system probably costs more than it pays off for the stores that uses it.
They do this at one particular store here. They also pay really well, have incredible prices, and let their cashiers sit in chairs while they check groceries. I like that store.
Here in Philippines its expected for you to leave it be at the parking spot. Someone from the Mall/ Supermarket management will return it. There is someone doing a dedicated job for it. Not sure if it’s a bad courtesy in here. But you would be probably robbing someone’s job for it. The same is also with going up and down with elevators. Though not common in office buildings. I guess this probably started in USA as a cost saving idea for the companies, similar to how they convince us that jaywalking is bad and not tipping is bad.
Maybe? not sure we’re even that stage yet in Philippines. Is it really demeaning? Maybe that is in your view. I think the people manning those probably don’t think so.
Better pay yes everyone prefers that, as for the job itself is humiliating not sure about that. Maybe it’s a cultural thing that I’m not getting. If the job pays you to grab carts and put it in their place and pays fair enough then what is humiliating for that? Let’s imagine taste testers for dog food is that job humiliating if it pays well? What would be humiliating is if the job like putting carts to their right place requires you to be a college graduate and they pay low. Maybe that is what your referring.
Yes. Being out in any weather taking care of something because other people are too lazy to do so is humiliating. I have no idea why you think it isn’t.
And are they really getting paid fairly? If I looked up the pay of someone who returns carts, would it be a comparable wage to someone sitting in an office all day despite it being a much more physically demanding job?
Because otherwise, I think you and I have very different definitions of “fairly.”
What’s humiliating about being a cart manager? It’s a need and most folks generally appreciate it. My buddy was one for a while and he was able to maintain his physical fitness while feeling like he was able to genuinely help others, it was really only the poor pay that was a problem.
I just told you what’s humiliating about it- Being forced to work in all kinds of weather doing something only because people are too rude to do it themselves. I’m glad your buddy didn’t find ingratiating himself to people who are richer and more successful than him humiliating, but in general, most people would. Maybe he should look into becoming a butler.
In Europe the carts are chained together. You have to put in a coin (50c, 1 or 2€) to get one. You get the money back we you bring it back to the chain. No big deal. Everyone brings their cart back. No idea why American supermarkets refuse to do this…
Where I live more and more supermarkets don’t do this, especially since the pandemic. The coin mechanisms are expensive to maintain, and it turns out that the overwhelming majority of people were raised correctly and will return the cart anyway. Where else would you put the cart anyway? In the parking lane? Surely maneuvering your car around a stray shopping cart can’t be more convenient than just putting the cart back!
There is still someone that grabs them. They are just collected in one place rather than looking everywhere for them. It also makes it better for people with nicer cars that don’t run the risk of random carts hitting their car.
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