What do you with your shopping carts? (Vienna: live, club)

[statecollege]

Do you return your carts to the designated return areas, or do you leave it as close to your car as you can? It seems like the biggest violators are in Costco lots, where carts are on the grass areas, in plant beds, front wheels on curbs, and generally scattered everywhere. My question for those who don't take the time to take carts to designated areas (even there, they are often not placed very orderly), why? How hard is it to push the cart a few feet? Let's hear if your excuses are on par with the reckless drivers who occasionally post here. Sorry, but this is one of the admittedly little things in life that I just don't understand. I'm trying to figure out what about our society this reflects. Any ideas? Add your own pet peeves to this string if you'd like.

[FLgirl367]

i actually only park next to the cart return areas, so i can return them easily. i only dump it into a grassy area if the lot is so packed i have to park very far away and can't leave my kids in the vehicle

my pet peeve:
why do people here call US 1 'route 1' as if it were a small county road? That annoys me to no end.

[smokemaster]

usually there is someone on the clock, who is supposed to be keeping the carts in order. Many times, they aren't doing their job. I've gone to the store manager before to tell them they had just set a new record; 37 shopping carts out in the parking lot unattended.

[tgbwc]

We always either return our cart to one of the return areas or take it back up to the store. I've noticed a lot of carts in the Safeway lot in Kingstowne. The Safeway is pretty new, but for some reason there are no return areas in that lot.?.?

P.S. I have converted to calling them "carts". I grew up saying "buggy", but it drove my wife crazy and I have been converted.

[VRE332]

if Costco adopted the mechanism Aldi's has adopted, then you would never see carts in the lot. If you're not familiar with Aldi's carts, all of the carts are chained together, and the way to get a cart is to enter a quarter to unlock it. Then upon returning the cart, you get your 25 cents back. I'm sure people would make a killing returning carts , thus saving Costco money.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by VaMomatHome

i actually only park next to the cart return areas, so i can return them easily. i only dump it into a grassy area if the lot is so packed i have to park very far away and can't leave my kids in the vehicle

my pet peeve:
why do people here call US 1 'route 1' as if it were a small county road? That annoys me to no end.

It has ALWAYS been called Route 1, from VA to Baltimore. That's not going to change, and why should it? I didn't even know that it was US 1, because I've never heard anyone call it that, but I've only been around this area since the 1950's. You may call it anything you want, but realize that people may have no idea what you're talking about since around here it's called Route 1.

[Denton56]

It what areas is the cart parking a problem? It was not an issue in Vienna nor is it ever a problem in western Loudoun. People return the carts to the the cart parking areas or to the front of the store. I am wondering if it's a problem in areas with high immigrant populations who might not know that they are supposed to put their carts in designated areas? Just a thought.

[FLgirl367]

Originally Posted by Denton56

It has ALWAYS been called Route 1, from VA to Baltimore. That's not going to change, and why should it? I didn't even know that it was US 1, because I've never heard anyone call it that, but I've only been around this area since the 1950's. You may call it anything you want, but realize that people may have no idea what you're talking about since around here it's called Route 1.

Have you never left the state and noticed a road with the same symbol in other states? I doesn't go from VA to Baltimore. It goes from Florida to Maine. I've lived in many states. This is the first state I've lived in where people don't differentiate between county, state, and US roads when using a number. I've been in every state that US 1 goes through and this is the first area I've heard it referred to as "route 1".
(they do call it uselss 1 in south FL, but that is another story.)

[car54]

Originally Posted by VaMomatHome

...my pet peeve:
why do people here call US 1 'route 1' as if it were a small county road? That annoys me to no end.

I think it's official name is "US Route 1"...so I guess folks are just shortening it up a bit.

If you think that's bad...LOTS of locals used to refer to US Route 1 as......."Number 1 Highway". You don't hear it much anymore...the folks must be dying off.


PS: I always put my cart back!

[bmwguydc]

I return them to the store, or cart area. When I park, I try to take an unsecured cart from the parking lot as opposed to walking to the store to get one, and have even been known to collect a few on my way to the store to deposit at the nearest cart corral. I will tell the store, such as a certain unnamed warehouse club where carts routinely block the driving lane in the parking lot, that there is a cart problem -- some do take it seriously.

I can see that for some, especially the elderly/infirm/or parent with small children who cannot leave the car, that it might be too much to return the cart. As long as the cart is secure, and cannot roll in a gentle breeze, i.e., two wheels over a curb, then that's okay from my point of view, even if I don't particularly care for the practice. Wegman's and Whole Foods are very good in this respect, since they have people in the parking lot who will help someone with a large order, or children, and will then collect carts routinely.