Because they are dicks? Is there any reasonable justification for not returning your cart? Claiming to be creating jobs is just BS. Either you strive to be a productive part of society or you only look out for yourself. The shopping cart indicator is a decent tool for separating these two types of people.

I always return my cart rain or shine no matter how far away the return is. But there was one time I didn't when I moved to a new neighborhood and went to the local grocer for the first time. This particular store shared a parking lot with a hardware store. I parked in a spot I thought was on the grocery store side of the lot, but I guess not? I bring my cart out and I'm almost to my car when suddenly the wheels lock up and I can't move the cart anymore. turns out they have a system in their carts to prevent people from stealing them. But I guess the zone for that is up to interpretation because I really feel like I was parked on the grocery side of the lot even if off to the side a bit. I ended up leaving the cart and just walked my groceries to my car. I blame the store for not properly marking the zone or improperly setting it in the first place. Not much I could do about it otherwise.

Try the German solution. To get a cart, you have to put a Euro into the cart to unchain it. When you return it, you chain it back on and get the Euro back.

Works for many years now, and people have been conditioned to it, so they return even "hacked" carts (there are tools to unchain them without a coin).

People will leave their trollies anywhere but in car parks. Bicycle rqcks? Fair game. Foot paths? Yeah sure. Car parks? Nah that would inconvenience people.

I’m a Midwestern transplant to Los Angeles. Honestly? It’s fucking hard to return your cart in Los Angeles. While my past self would call anyone out returning their cart an asshole, I can’t anymore because 90% of stores here just refuse to put out any cart corrals.

Over 500 Cart Narcs videos where watched to get this data. It was a fun read!