this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2024
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I have very young children, meaning very often I can walk away from the car after getting them in their carseats and unloading the groceries or whatever and be gone for about two minutes before one or both of them start losing their minds and getting scared. If the shopping cart return spot is more than two minutes from my car (round trip), then the cart gets left exactly two minutes (round trip) closer to the return spot and in a spot that doesn't inconvenience a) anyone parking, b) anyone leaving, and c) the employee that will eventually have to return it to the store.
Ideally, I catch someone walking inside the store on my way and ask if they'd like the cart, but not always.
That's just how it is, I don't feel bad about it. I don't know if you all live somewhere where these cart return chutes are more available, but most large parking lots here are the size of like two football fields and they have three total return chutes.
What irritates me is how often the "parent parking" spots are filled with people that get into their cars with no kids. They are typically located right next to the chutes, and it is great because you don't have to walk short children through a parking lot, you can put them in a cart, and then walk in where cars backing out can see the little kids.
I seriously rarely see people with kids using those spots. 100% some of the people in this thread are using the parent parking spots without kids, returning their shopping cart right next to where they're parked, and then judging people for not returning their carts.
I'm not judging you, but to offer another perspective to anyone reading this thread: I am a parent of two young children, and have never not returned a shopping cart. I take the kids with me when I return it.
As a parent, I realizes that it's harder to do things with kids than without, but I go out of my way to not pass that burden onto others.
There are many ways our situations could be different that would make it harder for you to do this than me - your reasons are completely your business.
I hear you, but in a busy parking lot, the shopping cart elevates the height of the children, making them visible to cars.
Where I live, the grocery store and target or whatever are primarily SUVs and trucks. The blind spots on vehicles like that are huge, and my children suddenly decide something looks and interesting and will sometimes just bolt off.
They're pretty good in parking lots, and obviously we have to and do walk through them, but, when I can, I try to limit the time my children spend on their feet in a busy parking lot.
My daughter barely comes up to the bumper of some of these trucks! But I do appreciate what you're saying, and I tend to agree with you in most circumstances.
I don't know why you're catching so much flak. Parking lots are not safe places for kids, and you can't leave them alone in the car for long either. I've never had an issue returning a cart, but that's because I've never shopped at a place where the return corrals are that sparse. If it's over a minute's walk to return a cart then that's a failure of the parking lot architects, not you. You're doing what you can, which is good enough.