Seven Excuses for Not Returning Your Shopping Cart

  It really isn’t that difficult to return a shopping cart to the cart return, is it? It’s common courtesy. It takes just a few seconds. It’s not rocket science. Or brain surgery. Or rocket surgery.

And yet, if you drive into most parking lots, you’ll likely find a wide array of shopping carts scattered hither and yon.

Here are a few of the justifications and excuses people use for not returning their shopping carts:

1. The I’m Too Important–These folks are too important to be bothered with putting their shopping cart away. That’s something for lesser people to do.

2. The Drop It Like It’s Hot–These people just leave the cart in the exact spot where they unloaded it. They can’t be bothered to move it an inch.

3. The I’ll Put It Between Parking Spots–These people will move the cart to the front of the parking spot, or in between parking spots, in an attempt to get it most of the way out of the way. (Note: “most of the way” is never fully out of the way. I think we’ve all had the experience of pulling into a parking spot where the cart was almost out of the way, so we try to get as close to it as we can, until we bump it and send it rolling away in surprising and dangerous directions.)

4. The I’m Just Doing What They Were Doing–These people will see one cart that’s not where it’s supposed to be, then think that it’ll be okay if they put their cart next to it. It’s basic herd mentality.

5. The Jerk–This guy is trying to be a jerk on purpose, so he parks his shopping cart in such a way that it obstructs as many parking spots as possible.

6. The They Pay People To Do This–These people will leave their cart willy-nilly because “they do, after all, pay people to come out here and gather the carts.” They think they’re providing jobs for the less fortunate.

About the only justifiable excuse I can think of is:

7. The Where the Heck Is the Nearest Cart Return?–Sometimes, parking lots are designed by idiots. Occasionally you’ll get your cart unloaded, look around, and not see a spot to return your cart within 100 yards. And if you have small kids in your car, it’s not worth the risk of leaving them in the car by themselves while you go off for a cart return excursion.

(Besides, they pay people to do that.)

  It really isn’t that difficult to return a shopping cart to the cart return, is it? It’s common courtesy. It takes just a few seconds. It’s not rocket science. Or brain surgery. Or rocket surgery.

And yet, if you drive into most parking lots, you’ll likely find a wide array of shopping carts scattered hither and yon.

Here are a few of the justifications and excuses people use for not returning their shopping carts:

1. The I’m Too Important–These folks are too important to be bothered with putting their shopping cart away. That’s something for lesser people to do.

2. The Drop It Like It’s Hot–These people just leave the cart in the exact spot where they unloaded it. They can’t be bothered to move it an inch.

3. The I’ll Put It Between Parking Spots–These people will move the cart to the front of the parking spot, or in between parking spots, in an attempt to get it most of the way out of the way. (Note: “most of the way” is never fully out of the way. I think we’ve all had the experience of pulling into a parking spot where the cart was almost out of the way, so we try to get as close to it as we can, until we bump it and send it rolling away in surprising and dangerous directions.)

4. The I’m Just Doing What They Were Doing–These people will see one cart that’s not where it’s supposed to be, then think that it’ll be okay if they put their cart next to it. It’s basic herd mentality.

5. The Jerk–This guy is trying to be a jerk on purpose, so he parks his shopping cart in such a way that it obstructs as many parking spots as possible.

6. The They Pay People To Do This–These people will leave their cart willy-nilly because “they do, after all, pay people to come out here and gather the carts.” They think they’re providing jobs for the less fortunate.

About the only justifiable excuse I can think of is:

7. The Where the Heck Is the Nearest Cart Return?–Sometimes, parking lots are designed by idiots. Occasionally you’ll get your cart unloaded, look around, and not see a spot to return your cart within 100 yards. And if you have small kids in your car, it’s not worth the risk of leaving them in the car by themselves while you go off for a cart return excursion.

(Besides, they pay people to do that.)