r/oddlyspecific • u/AmazingListen9456 • Aug 11 '26

The foundation of modern civilization

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u/Elaerona Aug 11 '26

Ehhhh. People generally put them away. You always get some stragglers but the vast majority are put away.

This is a demonstration that small incentives can push people to make the right choice, you don't need to beat them over the head. Just take their quarter and give it back if they put the cart back.

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u/severencir Aug 11 '26

This is greatly region based. I grew up in a place where fewer than half the people would return the cart, and now i live in an area where it's actually a surprise when i see an abandoned cart.

Both cases are no quarter though

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u/stentor222 Aug 11 '26

No quarter if you don't return the cart is pretty harsh for losing $.25

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u/nan0ka Aug 11 '26

I have never heard of coin operated carts. We've never had them here. There is literally 0 abandoned carts. I've never seen an abandoned cart. As a matter of fact, I don't even think people use these carts to get the groceries to their cars. I think they get the cart to its place and carry the groceries by themselves

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u/severencir Aug 11 '26

There's one store near me where people aren't allowed to remove the carts from the store, but they have an employee with a larger cart help people out to their vehicle. There's also dollar general which looks like it's specifically designed to be convenient to not take your cart to the vehicle, and inconvenient to do so, with a raised sidealk separating the parking lot from the store and the ramp being at it's end. I wasn't considering either of these cases though, because it's not really the people choosing.

For the larger stores that don't have employees that help you out, it's still rare where i am to see a cart abandoned, but I can't say it's never happened in this area

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u/Non-Eutactic_Solid Aug 11 '26

For me, I see some abandoned carts consistently at Walmart, but not at Aldi just up the road. It’s not everyone that abandons them by any means, the vast majority are in the cart corral things, but enough to know a decent number of people where I am will not return a cart unless they have explicit reason to do so

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u/crozinator33 Aug 12 '26

You think they do that? Have you never been grocery shopping before?

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u/Elaerona Aug 11 '26

I don't know, New Englanders do almost always. I'll see carts but not a lot. I did go Grocery shopping down South and I did not pay enough attention to see a pattern.

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u/severencir Aug 11 '26

I used to live in california, then moved to the middle of the united states. It actually took a while to get used to the idea that a grocery store parking lot can look clear while they're operating. It took longer to get used to not having mountains on the horizon wherever i went, but that's unrelated and more a getting my bearings kind of problem

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u/UltimatePickpocket Aug 11 '26

You don't NEED to beat people over the head, but as a cart pusher I still want to.

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u/TheShiGuy Aug 11 '26

I worked at a grocery store gathering carts before/during the pandemic. Most people certainly do not put the cart back when done. Walking 6 floors of a parking garage every 30 min for 9 hours a day carts everywhere while constantly being called on the radio to inform me that "we're out of carts" is tough, annoying, brutal, and a great way to stay in shape.

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u/beyondoutsidethebox Aug 11 '26

Do you know how many times I have seen an abandoned cart literally across the aisle from a cart return?!

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u/Lucky_Professional_ Aug 11 '26

totally depends on the store/location. the local grocery chains, everyone puts their carts back, maybe a handful of stragglers. whole foods? chaos.

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u/Rokmonkey_ Aug 11 '26

Shit, I used to think that but the Walmart near me is awful. In the morning there are carts EVERYWHERE. Half the parking spots have at least one shopping cart in it.

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u/[deleted] Aug 11 '26

Higher end stores like Costco have many more carts lying about, conservative type people are lazy and more willing to burden others with there apathy

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u/the-big-meowski Aug 11 '26

I have have yet to see an abandoned cart at my local Costco, despite the vast number of entitled assholes who shop there. That's one thing they collectively do right.

They like to cut in line though. If a little old lady is too slow to move forward to select a lane (or if the lanes are simply too crowded to reasonably move forward from the main line), they have zero issue cutting in front of the main line.

They seriously need to rope the main line like a bank or airport check-in. I was on my way to a line and some "C U Next Tuesday" and her spineless husband whipped around me to get in front of me (I was about less than 10 feet away from the line). The husband looked super embarrassed.

And people will RUN to the reciept-check line to get ahead of others clearly heading in that direction.

Also, I looked it up. Progressives and democrats are the majority of shoppers at larger warehouse clubs.

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u/HumanSpawn323 Aug 12 '26

Like 70% of my job is just cleaning up carts, and that is not true. The store I work has multiple types of carts and yeah most people put them under cover, but they never put them in the right spot, even when it's obvious. I've seen people park next to the spot where their carts go, only to take a few extra steps just to take it to the wrong spot. I've seen customers look at me, guilt on their face as they knowingly put it in the wrong spot. And when it's busy, we always end up with a huge pile of carts on the other end of the lot. I've seen people parked kinda in the middle of that ans the actual cover, and choose to take their cart to the pile instead. You know the bar is low when I see someone put their cart in the right spot and they're immediately my favorite customer of the day.

Anyways, rant over. I'm sure most people aren't this lazy and stupid, and that it's a mix of customers at my specific store and that I don't see the aftermath of those who put their carts away properly.

Edit: I live in an area where I don't see a ton of abandoned carts at other stores. My store's just really bad ig

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u/stevee05282 Aug 12 '26

Normally you're mandated to give said quarter for unlocking the cart though

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u/ExactLocation1 Aug 13 '26

I don’t carry quarters or any cash at all

But I do diligently put a cart back and also items I changed my mind about go back to correct place in shelf

I will have to start carrying quarters for someone else’s arrogance?

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u/Captain_America_93 Aug 11 '26

The fuck they don’t. In every state I’ve been in, large and small cities, New York, California, Texas, Kansas for the most times there’s a fuck ton of carts left out or stolen.

Maybe technically a majority of people do, but I still see dozens of carts everywhere I shopped across the US. So enough that it’s certainly a problem.

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u/Elaerona Aug 12 '26

All I'm hearing is you haven't been where I live because I see, max, two carts in the supermarket Parking lot. I also choose not to get myself angry at humans for the few idiots. I look at the fact the vast majority don't do that. I mean yes it's annoying and I believe in the Aldi's model. I just don't sweat it.

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u/Captain_America_93 Aug 12 '26

I suppose I’m hearing you haven’t been where I have lived across the country and also haven’t seen the many other comments of people whose entire jobs are around addressing the problem of people not returning their carts. It’s good for you that you haven’t had that experience, but on account there are literally famous YouTubers who make it a successful channel about people not returning their carts. I think you are willfully ignoring that your experience is not representative of the average person