I really want to like this article, but I don't care for the example of the old man.

It's not the only example that's lacking any sense of nuance or empathy, but it's probably the worst. I say this as someone who has never left a cart out. I even used to put other people's away if they were on my way. I can be a rule-follower to a fault.

Anyway.

I'm not old, but I'm physically disabled such that I don't use carts anymore. It's just too hard, too exhausting, too painful. I almost never buy more than I can carry in a basket.

If I did push a cart (especially full) out to my car, me still being well enough to return it is extremely questionable. I'd likely have to sit and recover a bit before doing so. Being disabled this way can be a lot like just being really old. I've come to empathize with them so much more these past few years.

You could argue that we should ask for help from staff in that scenario, but how often do you see grocery store staff who aren't busy with something? It's probably less of a burden on them to gather that cart up whenever they gather the rest of the carts that haven't been returned.

But definitely "fuck you" to the lady who left her cart in the middle of a handicapped spot.

Why don't they just put AI into the carts so they return themselves?

I went to a futuristic distopian grocery store the other day. Awful time there. As I'm pushing the cart to my car in the parking lot, the wheels suddenly lock electronically as I cross some invisible threshold. "Fuck this" I thought, and took my bags out and carried them the rest of way to my car.

Leaving the cart, wheels locked, in the parking lot.

I wonder how much of this behavior is caused by enormous parking lots and shopping by car. where i live there is a packing area next to the cart return. I put my stuff into bags and backpack there, then return the cart. No hassle at all. If I had to go a couple of hundred meters to return the cart, I might come up with excuses too. Lots of our decisions are driven by the environment we live in. Reasons are made up after the fact.

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