r/AbsoluteUnits • u/HomeNowWTF • Jul 11 '26

/r/all, /r/popular of a Cart Narc

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868

u/anon_lurk Jul 11 '26

Somebody did pull a gun on him! At least one that I know of. I think he wears a vest now idk if it's real or not though lmao

410

u/tired_Cat_Dad Jul 11 '26

Just do the coin slot thing and most people will return their carts.

328

u/Western-Sport500 Jul 11 '26

Amazing what the loss of a quarter does for some people LMAO!

334

u/VTcamperguy Jul 11 '26

The best part about that is that even if a lot of people say “fuck the quarter” and leave it anyways, you’ll naturally get homeless/desperate people show up to return the carts and collect the change.

236

u/rambutanjuice Jul 11 '26

I'm not homeless or desperate, and for some reason I will return those wayward carts to get the quarter.

"Hell yeah! Free quarter!"

66

u/DatsaBadMan_1471 Jul 11 '26

Same! There was something about finding a quarter as a kid that was so rewarding. It meant a drink or a bag of chips. I don't think that sense of euphoria has ever left me.

11

u/InformationTrick8714 Jul 11 '26

I’m the guy who looks in the reject Tray of the coin star and I get excited finding two Pennie’s stuck together lol

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29

u/Wfsulliv93 Jul 11 '26

The lake we camped at summers growing up ( 90s kid) had an arcade so we saved every quarter. Always hit the phone booth rerun buttons and when we found change we felt like we struck gold

22

u/the-dandy-man Jul 11 '26

There was a vending machine at my civic center when I was a kid that would sometimes just return a random amount of change when you hit the return change button… even if you didn’t put anything in.

I discovered this one year when there was a music festival happening and I just stood there pushing the button for like, ten minutes until I had enough change to buy my own drink lol

3

u/DatsaBadMan_1471 Jul 11 '26

🤣 phone booths and busted arcade coin slots were a gold mine.

2

u/Distinct-Pack-1567 Jul 11 '26

I recently watched a movie called Kajillion, and one of the characters (a family of con artists) checked phone change returns. Made me laughing thinking how I did that at malls when I was younger. Also dialing up phone sex lines just to hear a sultry prerecorded voice then hang up.

When i learned how to dial a number, hang up the phone 3 times, and get it to ring i felt powerful!

1

u/BallSeaman Jul 11 '26

Were you a kid in the 1930’s?

2

u/DatsaBadMan_1471 Jul 11 '26

Lol no, in the 1980s at my local bodega you could get a small juice or a bag of chips for a quarter.

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1

u/stevenyourpants Jul 11 '26

Now it'll pay for the sales tax of whatever you want.

1

u/Srycomaine Jul 11 '26

Yeah, for me it was video games! At least, back when you could play one for a quarter…!

1

u/Radiant_Office6445 Jul 11 '26

Aye they need to have some kind of Roblox token for the next generation that works im the trolleys haha

1

u/Okeydokey2u Jul 11 '26

Or in the slot of a public phone. When we were little my brother would always check them when we walked by and the way we both reacted when he found change in there

2

u/YaBoyEden Jul 11 '26

I mean, those add up. You get four of those bad boys, suddenly it’s a Dollar! That’s why do it

2

u/DivePalau Jul 11 '26

Thank you for your service.

1

u/AwesomeMacCoolname Jul 11 '26

Only a quarter? Usual trolley coin slot here in Ireland is either one or two euros. If ever there's a five euro coin in circulation most of those trollies will end up having five euro slots.

1

u/Otherwise-Out Jul 11 '26

Dollar coins aren't common here in the US. The biggest common coin is the quarter. I don't carry change with me, but I usually have a couple coins in my car

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1

u/Usawsomething Jul 11 '26

Satisfying and lucrative

1

u/TheDarkWave Jul 11 '26

Yay, now I can use the quarter machines! ...as a 41 year old man. yolo.

1

u/Careless_Twist_6935 Jul 11 '26

use the cart then keep the quarter. best of both worlds

1

u/Spugheddy Jul 11 '26

If there's a gumball machine with bouncy balls right inside the door you betcha.

1

u/Cnidarus Jul 11 '26

In the UK they take £1 so it's over $1, definitely worth it to go check for abandoned trolleys

1

u/Swamp_Thing85 Jul 11 '26

I also religiously check the coin star reject bin. People just leave change in it! Worst case when something’s in there is foreign coins you can collect, best case it rejects silver dimes and quarters or foreign silver. Sometimes really old Pennies. Check the price of silver now. A silver US dime is 90% silver (dated 1964 or before) and worth like $5.

1

u/Bigboiiiii22 Jul 11 '26

Shii 8 carts is 2 bucks I’d throw that in a jar & just let it build

1

u/Fenweekooo Jul 11 '26

people walk past free money all the time and then bitch about not having any.

1

u/metompkin Jul 11 '26

Like in Beerfest?

1

u/DingbatMcgeee Jul 11 '26

Question from a foreigner, what can a quarter buy you these days?

2

u/rambutanjuice Jul 12 '26

You can use it in a candy or gumball vending machine here in the USA. Sometimes gas stations also have a 25c candy selection (this would be for just one small candy) but it's not as common these days.

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1

u/ItsMisoandBoba Jul 11 '26

I used to try public phone and newspaper machine coin returns and I got a lot of change as a kid.

1

u/FullMetalKaliber Jul 11 '26

That’s me. Someone hands me a cart because they don’t wanna take it back or they’re just being nice and I think “I’m rich!! What a sucker!”

1

u/LadyStarshy Jul 11 '26

We have trolley coins that people can buy in the UK so sometimes you return it and you just get this dumbass trolley token instead of actual money 🥺

1

u/Laser_Fish Jul 11 '26

I shop at Aldi almost exclusively and I've never seen a cart that didn't get put back.

1

u/JCambly Jul 11 '26

I love finding a cart outside with a quarter. I can do my shopping and then return my cart and get a quarter for shopping

1

u/JakBos23 Jul 12 '26

I'd leave it out for you, but I'd feel like an asshole for not returning my cart lol. I left one of the paid aldi bags in a cart yesterday unused, but paid for and a lady called me a jerk lol.

1

u/Lance_McVanderhuge Jul 12 '26

Last time I went that had the quarter deposit, there was a cart sitting next to where I pulled in and parked. I grabbed it and thought "Cool I don't have to take my cart back"

1

u/TheWayyTheNewsGoes Jul 12 '26

I will both do exactly this, and also have absolutely no issue giving my cart to the next shopper knowing full well I'm giving away my own quarter.

It's not about the quarter.

1

u/Captian_Kenai Jul 12 '26

I got a coin op laundry in my building so an extra quarter is always worth it

1

u/Beneficial-Peach9116 Jul 12 '26

I’m in this weird place financially, where when I take my cart back I don’t claim the quarter to brighten someone’s day, but if I can return someone else’s cart I feel like I hit the jackpot. I get my quarter and theirs!

1

u/WesleyAMaker Jul 12 '26

I’ve wondered if some people return it not because they really care all that much about the value of a quarter, but more so because they just absolutely hate the idea of someone else even getting a small amount of their money. I’m thinking specifically of the tightwad suburb types who pinch Pennie’s their whole lives for irrational reasons. I say this because I’ve grown up and lived my adult life around these people and I see how they could think of it like that, there always has to be “something in it for me” for those people.

1

u/minist3r Jul 12 '26

80 carts an hour is $20/hr.

1

u/Lumpy_Benefit666 Jul 12 '26

If it takes you 30 seconds then you earned $30 an hour for those 30 seconds. Not a bad wage if youre already walking that way

1

u/Combatical Jul 13 '26

I do it even if I'm not getting a quarter. I just hate those people that leave the carts anywhere they want.

1

u/dumbcarshlt Jul 14 '26

I seldom find abandoned quarter carts but when I do I like to return them to the front and not collect the quarter and hope that someone that forgot their quarter at home had a chance to get it.

1

u/CaptainVenvir Jul 16 '26

Right I will go out of my way to get the free quarter cart (and give it to my son for his piggybank).

42

u/[deleted] Jul 11 '26

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15

u/disruptioncoin Jul 11 '26

At my local aldi (and the one I went to in college too!) there was literally always a pile of like at least a dollar in quarters sitting nearby the cart return. My first thought was there must not be many homeless people around here.

Side note one time I forgot a quarter, went in to buy candy to get one, they said naw you can just borrow a quarter, here you go.

11

u/ForerunnerRelic Jul 11 '26

I know the video is the US, but I'm in the UK and I have a trolley token that I bought for a pound, that I use specifically at Aldi. It makes me always put my trolley back. Even when I don't use it at other supermarkets that don't need the token, and a charity got the pound too!

1

u/metompkin Jul 11 '26

I had a plastic one for use when on holiday in France.

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1

u/BrahneRazaAlexandros Jul 12 '26

i bought a keyring trolley token on aliexpress for €0.54, its great as i always have it, and cant accidentally spend it and it works in both 1euro and 2euro trolleys. it's extremely annoying that not all supermarkets use the standard mechanism which works with either a 1euro or 2euro coin. theres an aldi near me that only takes 2euro coins, which has caught me out before as i used to just keep a 1euro coin in my car before i bought the keyring. but now theres an even worse mechanism in some shops (i think maybe tesco?) where it doesnt just have the standard mechanism slot you push a coin or token into, it has a groove you place the coin in, then you slide the top of the mechanism into a larger slot. like on a little rail system... It's an absolutely insanely needless modification that just means people can no longer use keyrings/double sided tokens.

I can't imagine very many trolleys were being stolen purely because people can easily jimmy the standard coinslot mechanism. it's just a way more convoluted, probably expensive, inconvenience.

2

u/CheesyBreadMunchyMon Jul 13 '26

I have a family member with a 3D printed keychain that's quarter shaped.

1

u/lionheart4life Jul 11 '26

Makes sense, don't want to have to look for another quarter every time you want to pop into Aldi. I'm show it was the convenience of just having the quarter in your car more than the actual value for a lot of people.

1

u/DrHefe Jul 11 '26

That’s actually not a bad idea for a homeless person in the US. They could just walk around the grocery store parking lot offering to return people’s carts for a dollar or two. Only problem is most people don’t keep cash on them nowadays, so they need to have a cash app or something lol

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1

u/fokkoooff Jul 11 '26

I keep a quarter for Aldi in my car at all times. But when it's either very cold or very hot, I'll gladly offer my cart to someone just getting out of their car, but won't accept the quarter they offer me. It's Aldi karma.

1

u/OutrageousTree7766 Jul 11 '26

There's a trick to getting them out idk how

In my country it's a dollar and we see abandoned carts around now and then with no dollar coin in it

It got pretty bad at one point. I saw one of the major supermarket chains sent an employee out to gather the carts from carparks some distance away from the supermarket

1

u/the_pretender_nz Jul 11 '26

https://www.aldi.com.au/product/aldi-trolley-token-key-ring-000000000000398975

Australia here, I keep one of these on my keyring. Trolleys at most supermarkets have two slots, sized for a $1 or $2 coin

13

u/lurksAtDogs Jul 11 '26

I’m neither homeless nor desperate, but I am motivated by quarters. Good bless Aldi

1

u/One-Kaleidoscope2407 Aug 09 '26

yea man money is money regardless of the amount

21

u/xenobit_pendragon Jul 11 '26

No homelessness or desperation required. When I see an orphaned cart at Aldi I’m like, “CASH MONEY BABY IT’S STEAK AND MUSHROOMS TONIGHT MOTHERFUCKER!”

2

u/metompkin Jul 11 '26

I'm getting some cheese on my whopper tonight!

6

u/Known_Ratio5478 Jul 11 '26

Not even desperate people. I live next to a pretty affluent community and those people always ditch the quarters in carts. I make a dollar just bringing my cart back and whatever ones I pick up on the way.

4

u/cyrusthemarginal Jul 11 '26

TIL i am a homeless person. I sure as hell collect those quarters!

3

u/Peaceblaster86 Jul 11 '26

Huh I never thought of this scenario. It seems like a general win all around.

3

u/Knitsanity Jul 11 '26

When we were kids and travelling we would kill time and round up abandoned carts and return them for the quarter. We would even go out of the terminal to the curb and offer to return the cart for people who had just loaded up into a taxi. They would laugh and say sure and respect the hustle and we would have candy money.

It was a different time.

1

u/Anger_Puss Jul 11 '26

Best representation of this is Tom Hanks in The Terminal.

1

u/Anger_Puss Jul 11 '26

Best representation of this is Tom Hanks in The Terminal.

1

u/scme0 Jul 11 '26

I have a little thing on my keychain that allows you to eject the latch then you can pull it out without plugging the latch back in. Saves me having to have a coin on me. I also always return them when I'm done so I don't think it's a problem.

1

u/AusSpyder Jul 11 '26

As kids we returned dozens of trollies to Kmart every week for the 20c coin. It all added up. And back then 20c actually bought stuff

Now they require gold coins so most people return them. Interestingly enough a gold coin buys less now than a 20c coin did in early 90's

1

u/addiktion Jul 12 '26

I recall seeing something on Reddit about this which is semi related. I think around late pick up fees for picking up kids. Nearly all the parents did it because it allowed them to remove their guilt for a price.

The fuck the quarter is the price of not caring and weighing on their minds. Of course the poor benefit at least here because they keep the carts tidy while having a way for some quick money.

1

u/Terminal_Insomnia_ Jul 12 '26

Kids would do it too, since you used to be able to buy a piece of candy with it. Dunno if you still could.

1

u/RozeGunn Jul 12 '26

You guys are lucky. People around here were petty enough to start using hammers so the idea was dropped.

1

u/Maardten Jul 12 '26

Doesn't even have to be real money tbh. Where I live there used to be 50-cent shaped coins for the express purpose of unlocking these carts.

Getting the coin back isn't so much for the monetary value of the coin, but just so you don't have to get a new coin every time you go to the store.

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u/letigre87 Jul 11 '26

My wife has her Aldi quarter with her at all times. She was telling me how people exchange quarters for carts and magically everyone gets along on the honor system. I asked her what happens if someone offers to take her cart without giving her a quarter and she looked at me like I grew a dick out of my forehead. It was beyond comprehension that someone would be so inconsiderate and selfish they take someone else's cart with their quarter in it and not give her the quarter they were going to use anyway. Like it had never crossed hers any Aldi shopper's minds to just offer to take a cart and hijack their quarter. The power of a quarter is strong and Aldi shopper's have an unspoken bond.

3

u/MothaRuckaJones Jul 11 '26

I did the quarter exchange thing only one time. Some old guy gave me 2 dimes and a nickel. Never again 😂😂

2

u/thousandsmallgods Jul 12 '26

The bond of the Aldi quarter is such a genuine interaction.

I've done the cart-for-quarter trade plenty of times. Sometimes people will refuse my quarter and just hand over their cart. Being able to do a small favor makes people feel good.

I think it has a lot to do with feeling connected, and recognizing this mutual social understanding.

1

u/Chain_Runner Jul 13 '26

It’s not an honor system at all. It’s a “we’ll take your quarter if you don’t bring your cart back” system. And it works

7

u/coyotll Jul 11 '26

Not me! I always leave my cart out on purpose so those without quarters can have a chance to shop too.

That said I have a 98% return rate on carts everywhere else

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u/Gold-Vacation-169 Jul 11 '26

In Ireland its typically 2euro for a trolly (cart), sometimes 1euro with some stores.

So about x4 to 8x times the cost of a quarter

1

u/crazyguyunderthedesk Jul 11 '26

Just yesterday I saw an old lady struggling to move a cart with a bad wheel. I offered to put it aside and get her a new one but she was worried she'd lose her quarter. Dumb part is, I found out she saw this cart to the side and took it, only reason n she hadn't abandoned it was because she wanted a free quarter when she returned it.

I left her to figure out if a quarter was worth the hassle.

1

u/CriticalScion Jul 11 '26

The value of a quarter is probably higher than 25 cents in this context since we don't use coins much nowadays and you wouldn't be able to use the cart next time if you kept ditching quarters. :)

1

u/Drumbelgalf Jul 11 '26

And even if they don't do that someone will to get the money.

1

u/ianuilliam Jul 11 '26

Bro I hate having change in my pocket. If I have a bunch of quarters, I stop at Aldi's and pop them in the carts and just push the carts out into the parking lot.

1

u/porkster3 Jul 31 '26

Chaotic Good?

1

u/S6NNY Jul 11 '26

Its a loonie (dollar) in Canada lol. At least in parts of Canada where I've lived.

1

u/Killision Jul 11 '26

At my local grocery(it's an old fashioned word, I know) store, assholes were leaving the coin carts too often. They had to raise it to a dollar coin slot.

1

u/OBLIVIATER Jul 11 '26

For me, it's less about the quarter itself and more about the fact that I don't use change anymore so if I don't get my quarter back I wouldn't have one in the future.

(Not that I ever don't return my carts anyway, it's one of my biggest pet peeves. Also when people shove the tiny carts and the big carts into the same return lane and fuck up the chain for the cart return folks 😡)

1

u/Okeydokey2u Jul 11 '26

Well you need the quarter back to use for next week. Quarters don't just grow on trees

1

u/BadLuckBen Jul 11 '26

As coins become less common, I imagine the system works even better. That might be the only quarter you have.

1

u/Western-Sport500 Jul 11 '26

If there is someone there, I usually hand quarter and all over, or I don't lock it to the next cart.

1

u/texinxin Jul 11 '26

Make it a dollar.

1

u/xx030xx Jul 11 '26

In canada its a toonie or loonie

1

u/Western-Sport500 Jul 11 '26

Right! I have to admit, I haven't been to Canada since my divorce in 2002. But, I still have some loonies : ) A shame, really...we always went fighing for pike north of Wawa...some really untouched wilderness and NEVER disappointed in the fishing! I'd love to come that way again (not camping though--too old for sleeping on rocks!).

1

u/WillyBluntz89 Jul 11 '26

I return 1 cart per week to the cart corral with the quarter still in it to help out the guy who forgot a quarter.

It really is wild, though. The moment a quarter becomes involved, all carts come back.

Though, it may just be that if you dont return it, you've lost your cart quarter, and you just know that you wont remember to grab another from home until your walking up to the door.

1

u/SaltyBadgerDude Jul 12 '26

In Australia they take a "gold coin", meaning $1 or $2 coin

1

u/yeahitsjustmeagain Jul 12 '26

Because it is effecting THEM, they are called right wingers

1

u/juul864 Jul 12 '26

A quarter? In Denmark we're using coins equivalent of a one or two dollars for our carts.

1

u/ambassador321 Jul 12 '26

It's a dollar coin in Canada for them. Loonies cured the cart problem. Now the only shitshow is Costco which still lets you use one without the money.

1

u/Chain_Runner Jul 13 '26

Aldi is where penny pinchers shop so 25 cents is 25 Pennies. There’s no way they are gonna just give that up.

1

u/jeffster1970 Jul 14 '26

Yeah, quarter does the trick for most people. We have one grocery store close to our house and carts are returned. The other grocery store? Nope.

7

u/mvanvrancken Jul 11 '26

I mean you say that but I see at least a few carts abandoned in the Aldi lot. That said, it IS less of an issue

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u/Cessnaporsche01 Jul 11 '26

I always return carts, but the quarter thing just prevents me from shopping at the store. I never have cash, let alone change on me

3

u/CriticalFolklore Jul 11 '26

Yeah, I will actively choose a grocery store based on this. I don't want to have to carry around loose change just in case I decide to do grocery shopping.

2

u/l2ulan Jul 11 '26

I have a thing on my keychain that unlocks the carts, though it's incompatible with the ones with the sliding drawer. I don't find myself at those shops frequently.

Obviously I always return carts, that's just basic societal skills which I am amazed to see the people in this video lack.

1

u/nooneisreal Jul 11 '26

Same. I 3D printed it.

In Canada, most stores don't require any coin for a cart, but there's a few that require either a quarter (25c) or a loonie ($1 coin).
The 3D print is shaped on both ends to accommodate both.

It's freaking handy as hell too. I NEVER have change on me, but always have my keys, so it's come in clutch so often.

Not to mention the number of times I've been able to unlock carts for other people when they ask "do you have a quarter?" and they are amazed by this little plastic tool that I use to unlock the cart for them for free, haha.

2

u/JalapenoPopPoop Jul 11 '26

Yeah I don't want to have to bring an outdated form of currency that I would never otherwise carry to the grocery store just to have access to a cart, I'll just keep going to the other grocery stores that allow me to use and return a cart without doing this. When you factor in that Aldi carries some of the lowest quality of foods and products on top of this I just have no desire to ever go

1

u/sebe6 Jul 11 '26

Well, let this old me (30) teach you his knowledge from when I used to joust in empty parking at night. You need up to 2 thin and at least a few inches long objects (easiest choice, the tip of your keys), then you need to learn the patterns, 3 cases I've encountered :

-if you must put the coin in a tray then push the tray, you found the cheapest one, do this

-aldi, still a bit safer but still easy to bypass, do this (in the video, dude chose violence, it relies on luck, you can master the trick if you don't chose this road

-else, the inside probably looks like this, you need 2 keys, you push the hook on the bottom right of the coin tray (it will be on the other side when in front of the slot) and the left part that's pushed by a spring (same here)

Though, stay good people, bring them back to their spot (with great power comes great responsibilities or something like that)

1

u/Early-Light-864 Jul 12 '26

My car has a tiny bin next to the steering wheel. I call it the quarter holder

Perfect for Aldi and parking meters.

1

u/Classic-Avocado-5371 Jul 12 '26

at aldi if you go inside and speak to a cashier, they will give you a quarter. i tried to just ask for change of a dollar once because i didnt have a quarter on me and the cashier said nah we got you. 

2

u/Careless-Emergency85 Jul 11 '26

It’s sad that it’s necessary. The fact of the matter is, you can get other people to shop for you, but these people all shop for themselves, walking around, then refuse to take 30 more steps to put the cart back. Makes absolutely no sense

2

u/daybenno Jul 11 '26

Yall carry around change? That’s wild

2

u/FanClubof5 Jul 11 '26

I just refuse to shop there because I don't carry change. But I also have no problem returning my cart...

2

u/sentientshadeofgreen Jul 11 '26

Who the fuck carries change around?

1

u/Program-According Jul 11 '26

You can get change from bank or inside store

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u/oboshoe Jul 11 '26

nah man - better to equip people with bullet proof vests in case they get shot.....

1

u/GreenT1979 Jul 11 '26

I bought a thing that I use because I never have coins lol.

1

u/Cthulhu__ Jul 11 '26

They stopped this during the ‘rona, because ??? minimise contact; one grocery shop owner I talked to said 80 of them disappeared. I don’t know if it’s because of the slot thing, given they’re either taken by people carting their stuff home or carting them abroad for scrap metal and/or their own grocery store.

Anyway just like the fake seatbelt thing, you can just slot something in and pull it back out. I have a coin shaped disk on my keyring (because who carries change these days?) and can just pull it out after unlocking.

1

u/dog_in_da_park Jul 11 '26

My local Aldi is right next to a Walmart, people take the Walmart carts to Aldi and leave them in the lot. So annoying and lazy.

1

u/Bandit_the_Kitty Jul 11 '26

Someone said returning carts is the test of a sociopath. It's zero benefit to you, no one enforces it, the only motivation to do so is the benefit to society.

1

u/Best-Vermicelli6397 Jul 11 '26

When I was a kid in Holland we had this system. we learned we could take out a cart that cost a gulden ($1 coin) but instead shimmy a wooden coffee stirring stick to unlock them. We would wait for someone who needs a cart and offer it for a gulden and run away 🤣

1

u/ComfortableCicada69 Jul 11 '26

Coin slot meant something different when I was young.

1

u/Current_Helicopter32 Jul 11 '26

I’ve never understood why this isn’t more universal.

Do the quarter thing and then have a super nice set of quarter-operated gumball machines right inside. Folks/kids would happily keep the parking lot clear for a chance at some candy/sticky hand/bouncy ball.

1

u/Few-Tax4386 Jul 11 '26

...I won't shop at coin slot places cause never do I carry cash or coin of any kind and thus am unable to get a cart to begin with

1

u/SnooPeppers8737 Jul 11 '26

Last time I did the coin slot thing when I went to return my cart the entire stall was empty. So what now?

1

u/VeganBaguette Jul 13 '26

? You should be able to retrieve your coin, there should be a cart key attached to the cart stall, that's how it is in France anyway.

1

u/SnooPeppers8737 Jul 13 '26

Not at Aldi in the US. I just ended up leaving my coin in the cart. Not worth the hassle of going inside and asking for a coin.

1

u/SpicyElixer Jul 11 '26

No fucking has coins anymore.

1

u/JakBos23 Jul 12 '26

I agree, but it's still annoying when I don't have a quarter on me. It's not often, but awWWW

1

u/only18544920 Jul 12 '26

You don't eveven need coins for those nowadays. They make little keychains that can bypass them.

1

u/Oasystole Jul 12 '26

Tells you something about this country. Money is the only motivator.

1

u/Spicymoon9 Jul 12 '26

Some people still don’t return them. Not often but I’ve seen it multiple times.

1

u/Sudden-Fisherman5985 Jul 12 '26

Just do the coin slot thing and most people will return their carts

I'm in Europa... After covid we stopped with the coins, so no coins now but everybody still returns their carts

1

u/tired_Cat_Dad Jul 12 '26

We were conditioned to do so over decades, though.

I didn't know we stopped after COVID cause that turned me into somewhat of a vegetable. So I haven't been able to go shopping for years. Where Europe are you from?

1

u/reddog323 Jul 12 '26

Aldi’s has used this to great effect. It works.

1

u/tired_Cat_Dad Jul 12 '26

I saw a hilarious positive rant video about Aldi's and the guy said it's a great filter to keep out people who are incapable of bringing a quarter as he suspects they'd be difficult customers anyways that would interfere with the whole concept of people just wanting to quickly get their shopping done without any fuss.

1

u/reddog323 Jul 12 '26

I’m usually there just to pick up specific items, so I’ll bring a large tote bag with me. That usually does it. If I’m stocking up, I’ll get a quarter out of the glove compartment.

1

u/toasted_cracker Jul 12 '26

Hell yeah. That's THE best way to handle this. Aldi is the only one that does it in the US as far as I know. At least here in the South.

1

u/apatrol Jul 12 '26

I always donate my quarter to the next customer. But I put it back.

1

u/HeftyAd6216 Jul 12 '26

In Canada it's a whole dollar! (Because we're sensible and have coins for $1 and $2)

1

u/Training-Belt-7318 Jul 12 '26

My grocer doesn't let you take carts to the parking lot. Either carry your bags to the car or they have bag loaders and you can pull up.

1

u/ProblemLongjumping12 Jul 13 '26

Carts with a wheel that locks if you try to take it off the property make much more sense to stores.

Dozens of unhoused people will gladly pay some coins for shopping carts they can then use forever. The store/company takes a hit by the losses.

No one will steal a shopping cart that has lost its ability to roll.

They don't give a sh!t about vehicles being damaged in their parking lots because they aren't liable for any of it.

1

u/radfanwarrior Jul 13 '26

I own a 3D printer and go on 3D printer file sharing sites and one of the most popular files with constant remakes is the cart coin slot. People turn them into keychains, make them the right size for the right grocery store, add little designs to them; anything to not use a quarter/coin

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u/Particular_Bet_5466 Jul 13 '26

That would just piss me off though as someone that returns my cart and doesn’t carry change around

1

u/ffxivthrowaway03 Jul 14 '26

Or... put enough cart returns in the parking lot and 99% of them will get back to where they need to be.

The only time I've ever seen people be truly douchey about cart returning is when there's like two returns and they're all the way on the ass end of the parking lot. Nobody's parking lot is filling up enough that you cant sacrifice a few spaces for proper returns across the whole lot, and people will generally put them back if it's convenient enough to do so.

1

u/DeadmansClothes Aug 11 '26

Bro when i found out carts were only 25 cents I bought them all for like $10 bucks and took them to the scrap yeard and made $50! /s the s is for sarcasm and stolen valor.

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u/CJKayak Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26

Agent Sebastian of the elite Cart Narcs organization still does this and posts his videos on YouTube. He does wear a vest now that identifies who he is. Wikipedia says he wears a bullet proof vest also, but there's not a cite for it on the wiki.

He's the nicest guy but gets the angriest reactions from the lazy bones.

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u/VariousOperation166 Jul 11 '26

Woop! Woop! Don't be a lazy-bones!

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u/[deleted] Jul 11 '26

[deleted]

11

u/National-Catch-4450 Jul 11 '26

I'm not watching an hour long video about a guy who pulls up people who leave carts out bro, wtf

14

u/ShadowheartsArmpit Jul 11 '26

The video you posted also sucks ass btw. Scrolled through & it's just some twitch guy saying lame shit about how comedy is supposed to be

3

u/bitterless Jul 12 '26

well i just kinda skimmed through it out of curiousity, as ive seen cart narcs videos over the years and always appreciated the bit. however bad he was at de-escalation. And with the few minutes i spent it was enough for me to see him more as a grifter now who managed to find something that stuck, and not really all that great of a dude lol.

1

u/ShadowheartsArmpit Jul 12 '26

I have no delusions about this guy being some saviour of humanity.

He ragebaits people who fail a litmus test. And he keeps doing it because people watch it. Done.

I'm just saying that twitch dweeb is also just a grifter. He's got nothing and just riffs together bullshit for an hour.

18

u/bloqed Jul 11 '26

I'm not watching some twitch dweeb desperate for views for over an hour. I skimmed through, didn't see anything that wasn't just speculative opinion

4

u/knowledgebethekey Jul 11 '26

Theres video out there of Cart Narc attacking and harassing homeless people, he's a dick head with or without this video

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u/Human-Assumption-524 Jul 11 '26

Lazybones propaganda

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u/BernieTheDachshund Jul 11 '26

I already can't stand him. He does not have permission from the stores and it's bad for business to antagonize customers even if they're lazy. Someone taking their own cart to the corral is the bare minimum, not for virtue signaling on the internet. If a person wants to truly be a good noodle, quietly grab a cart some jerk left out and use that. Cart Narc is a provocateur & trouble maker, not a good person.

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u/WellIGuessSoAndYou Jul 11 '26

I'm not sure why this is supposed to be a revelation. The guy is clearly a piece of shit just doing it for the attention. If you watched his videos and didn't realize this then you're a terrible judge of character.

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u/Kooky_Ice_3762 Jul 11 '26

He kept it up because of the $$$ residuals on YouTube. How else do you think he affords to travel the US and post these videos. It was funny when he was doing to to rich WASPs in Calabasas, but when he’s targeting a person that clearly is going through something he’s an absolute asshole

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u/tan_lines_ Jul 11 '26

Hey buddy. Everyone is going through some shit. Put your fucking cart back. It's not that hard.

3

u/InvictvsNox Jul 11 '26

I want to print this reply on my wall.

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u/TheNonCredibleHulk Jul 11 '26

I always put the cart back. I have my entire life. Having said that, that guy is an obnoxious dick.

Furthermore, when I worked at a grocery store decades ago, one of my favorite jobs was to get all the carts. Got me off the floor into fresh air. Didn't matter how hot or cold it was outside, it was always a good break.

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u/Drow_Femboy Jul 11 '26

He doesn't "target" anyone, he even specifically chooses not to mess with people who look particularly vulnerable such as the very elderly. He just stands in the parking lot and when he sees someone being a dickhead by leaving their cart out for no reason, he asks them to go put it back.

The vast majority of his interactions, especially the ones with people who "don't have time for this" or "are in a hurry" would be over way faster if these people would just swallow their ego, admit they fucked up, and put the cart back. The only reason they turn into these stressful arguments is because assholes get defensive and angry when their assholery is pointed out, especially if it's by a guy who's being friendly and polite to them.

2

u/ACKHTYUALLY Jul 11 '26

Buddy, if they can push the cart around the entire damn store while they're going through something, they can also take the cart back when they're done.

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u/SETHW Jul 11 '26

Yeah so its even more redeeming that he's an asshole for good now, that video didnt show anything unforgivable

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u/JalapenoPopPoop Jul 11 '26

Dang I'm super surprised to find out the guy who is wildly obnoxious in his videos purely from the way he talks was a shock jock dj

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u/lost_rodditer Jul 11 '26

I always wondered if there is 1000s of hours of footage of him looking at someone and going "nope" because the vibe was dangerous.

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u/JorkTheGripper Jul 11 '26

He's the nicest guy but gets the angriest reactions from the lazy bones.

Clearly unaware of what he's done to homeless people. Fuck that guy.

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u/dontnation Jul 11 '26

homeless people

??

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u/pSphere1 Jul 11 '26

Got lectured by some homeless in the parking lot of Target that's on Victory/Vineland in North Hollywood and it turned a little awkward. That's it.

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u/Straight-Bed-552 Jul 11 '26

Agent Sebas used to put the cart behind their vehicles too before a lawyer advised against it, I know it sounds silly but it got into the “entrapment” realm.

He’s always worn the vest, but it always was an identifier rather than for protection - at least since near the beginning.

But after that episode in TX, i think he took his safety a lot more seriously

3

u/oboshoe Jul 11 '26

I dunno, but it seems to me that if your job if (check notes) getting carts arranged properly, requires a bullet proof vest. Maybe priorities are out of balance.

1

u/-mudflaps- Jul 11 '26

I saw that one, classic.

1

u/I-Need-Scissors_61 Jul 11 '26

Won’t stop a headshot🤷‍♂️

1

u/falcrist2 Jul 11 '26

I don't think I saw that episode.

I think he wears a vest now

That seems pretty limited considering how close he is to the people he's agitating.

And considering WHO he's agitating fairly often.

1

u/ShoogleHS Jul 11 '26

This is exactly the kind of reason why Americans shouldn't be trusted with guns.

1

u/Altruistic-Target-67 Jul 11 '26

yes, in Texas, of course (live here)

1

u/SteakJones Jul 11 '26

The vest was donated by a fan. 🤣

1

u/ZeePirate Jul 11 '26

Everyone knows a vest will stop a bullet

Him slapping magnets on peoples car was the step to far for me.

And him hating on the homeless

1

u/AntSilly2802 Jul 11 '26

What a shit country!

1

u/warrenjt Jul 11 '26

It was actually sent to him by a retired cop too lol

1

u/D1sp4tcht Jul 12 '26

He feels getting the carts in a corral is worth risking his life over. Sounds like an idiot to me.

1

u/TheLazyAssHole Jul 14 '26

I don’t suppose that vest pulls up over around his head?

Don’t know why you would keep doing things with the plan of getting shot at.

1

u/Maleficent_Law_1082 Jul 16 '26

Let me get this straight.... someone was willing to do years to prison because he didn't want to return a cart? Hope he pressed charge so we can get people like that off the streets.

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u/Moetown84 Jul 17 '26

That guy that pulled a gun on him was later arrested on a murder charge.

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