The Dilemma

No, Sharyn, not shot or burned at the stake, just understood to be lazy and inconsiderate when it comes to people you don't gain something from being decent to.

I live across the road from the supermarket, so I wander over nearly every day & just grab a few things which don't require a trolley. Although apparently I should have been spat on, shot and burned at the stake for having left a shopping cart or two outside of the shopping cart corralling areas in the past. :O

Odd man out? ArtW, among the commenters here, you are part of the vast majority!

When I was five, almost sixty years ago, my mother would let me accompany her to the grocery store every few days, and she taught me three things: bring a bag with you; take a cart in from the parking area; hold the door for people. At the time, I didn't realize I was related to a saint.
All three have remained with me all my life. Suddenly, I'm the odd man out.

A special circle in hell is reserved for those who not only don't return their carts; they leave their carts behind someone else's vehicle, forcing another customer to deal with the left cart to get their groceries in the car, or to back out of the parking space.

I hope they roast for all eternity.

My husband is disabled. He has severe arthritis in his knees, hips and back. HE returns his cart, more often than not to the store itself.

It's just not that hard.

I've seen people walk the cart out to their vehicle with TWO bags, load up, then leave the cart right behind the vehicle and pull out forward (the space in front is free, or it's the top in a 2 column parking space)That just makes my blood boil

I sometimes grab one or two more-
on my way back inside to put them
back WHERE I FOUND THEM IN THE
FIRST PLACE.
But that's just me- I like walking.

Only absolute douchebags don't return their carts to the corral. They are never more than like 30 steps away and you would have to be a totally lazy POS to just leave it there for someone else to deal with. If I saw someone doing this I would heckle them like the ass that they are.

The real jerks are the shoppers who leave dirty diapers in shopping carts.

This hasn't even been mentioned... for those of you who leave the carts out... 1) You block parking, usually, 2) You create a liability to the store (for possible damage... which they pass along to you in cost), and 3)They pay someone to gather those carts up (the cost of which is passed along to you).

I'm glad I'm not the only person who DOESN'T struggle with this. Seriously, people who don't return carts are the epitome of self-absorbed. Especially if you live somewhere that has high winds, the employees can't keep up and people's cars get dinged. If you are that lazy, park near the cart return you jerks!!!

DO IT! I spent a good 5 to 10 minutes fumbling around a parking lot on Tuesday wrangling up 5 different carts because people are too lazy to walk twenty steps back to the holding area!

A pound coin has been the standard in the UK for years. However there have also been keyrings on sale for years which feature a piece of metal the size of a pound coin, this can be removed to use in place of a pound coin in your trolley. The strange thing is that these keyrings often cost more than a pound. People claim they use them for the convenience. To me it seems much more convenient to keep a pound coin in the change rack of my car. It makes no sense to spend more than a pound to buy something that will do only one job that a pound will do.

I'm shocked that you are only charged 25cents, at my supermarket you have leave a $2 coin deposit in the trolley to unlock it.

I don't understand people that leave their carts in parking spots or on a curb or whatever. Just plain lazy and inconsiderate.
I am as lazy as they come and I will walk my butt to put a cart where it should go no matter how far it is (which is never really that far)

Yea, I have never left a shopping cart by my parking spot. But a neighborhood I used to live in was persistently full of them - was all low-cost housing in 3-story walk-ups. Bunch of impoverished people who walked 6 blocks from the grocery store and dumped the cart on the street.

Yesterday, as a matter of fact, I watched from my car as a fat lady and her son wheeled a cart, overflowing with groceries, through the Vons parking lot, across a very busy street, and down the sidewalk, never to be seen again. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say she didn't bother to return it.

Unless I really have a full cart, I usually leave the cart at the dropoff point by the side of the store, and just carry my bags of stuff to the car. Equally polite, and easier for me than hauling the cart to my car and then to the corral.

Also, when you're heading into the store, why not grab a cart from the parking lot holding spot instead of from inside the store? Otherwise, you're just making more work for the employee who has to go make a cart convoy in the parking lot.

I identified with the tweet. I usually return the carts, but not always. I feel the struggle of laziness.
After reading these comments I feel like such a jerk. To you good people out there, I apologize.
I'll do better.

FWIW: I would never, ever, consider taking up two parking spaces, not flushing, or littering.

There is no struggle, dont be so lazy!

You always return it, because it's the right thing to do.

People who don't return the cart to the corral are the scum of the earth. You pushed it all around the store, then after you unload the groceries, what? You say to yourself, I got nothing left? The corral is aaaaall the way over there?

Dante would have made a special circle for you an the litterers.

Absolutely no inner struggle for me. Only lazy, self-centered, inconsiderate jerks leave carts out. These are the same people who take up two parking spots, don't flush public toilets, and litter.