One of my biggest pet peeves is encountering a shopping cart left in or near an accessible parking spot. I know these lazy people don't believe that the access isle and the handicap sign are places for shopping carts, but this doesn't stop them from putting them there. What really ticks me off about these people is that the door and the cart cartels are within a very minimal walking distance. They have to walk to and from their vehicle, to and from the store, why not walk your cart back to one of these designated areas. It will only take a few moments of their time, yet seems like such a chore to do for some people. The chances arepretty good that if you needed to bring a cart out to the parking lot, your cart was fairly full which means you probably spent a good deal of time walking around the store. If you can shop til you drop to get the things you need, there is no reason why you cannot put your shopping cart away when you are finished using it. It's not a difficult thing to do and it would make the lives of those who need those handicap parking spots a little easier.

I came out of Target a while back to find a shopping cart parked inches from my truck. I had one bag that had Scooby Doo and Toy Story band aids in it, but you wouldn't believe the looks I got from people who thought I had left the cart there. Wow, really? Does it look like I can push the cart that is as tall as me and do you honestly think I needed a cart with my one bag? I was going to attempt to put it away myself after I got my lift out and down and next thing I know the cart was gone. One of the Target employees had taken it, but it shouldn't be his job to pick up after certain lazy people.

I have yet to catch anyone in the act of leaving a cart as I am leaving or pulling into a lot, but when I do I will most definitely tell them where to put it. How do we change it so people don't leave their carts in handicap spots? Is this a problem we are going to have to deal with for the rest of our lives? Do we ban carts from all stores? I have too many scratches on my truck from shopping carts as it is and I don't want anymore. They wouldn't want a cart next to their vehicle, so they should understand why we don't want a cart next to ours.

There maynot be a solution for the lazy people of the world, but there is a solution for the stores. A few years ago when I would shopat Wal-Mart it looked like more carts were in handicap spaces then there were in cart cartels. It was so bad that I was forced to park at the back of the lot when I went alone. I wrote an email to Wal-Mart who then forwarded it on to the store manger of my local Wal-Mart and they assured me they would take care of the problem. It was a simple solution where they had employees pick up carts more often throughout the day. And to this day it is still pretty good. Obviously, I need to be writing this for the new Target, since this is where I am encountering all these cart problems. It is not the store's fault, but they need to be aware of it and I am sure they will do what they can to improve the problem. That's all we can ask for. 

© 2011 Kristina Allen