? for those who read the UO thread on 9/12

amberpro · February 2012

kimbo1216:
rlmanning:
In the summer time my cart never gets put back. Where I live we get heat waves of 110 + degrees. I WILL NOT leave my child in the car to put the cart back NO MATTER HOW LAZY ANYONE thinks I am.
I live in Texas. I know hot. I ALWAYS put my cart back. It's not about thinking people are lazy, it's about being courteous and respectful. Frankly, it's rude. Often, they end up banging into cars or taking up spaces.
1. No one said you have to leave your kid in the car if it's hot. Leave LO in the buggy until you get to the coral, then carry him/her back to the car. If it's too hot for LO to be outside that long, then you probably should not have brought him/her out in the first place.
2. Park next to a coral. Problem solved. No space next to a coral? Refer back to #1.

I was thinking #1 for about 3/4 of this post, lol (about both hot and cold).

I've recently took stock of few changes I've made in my daily life since C was born. One of the things that I immediately thought of was my store parking strategy: I no longer look for the closest space but the space closest to a cart corral. Not replacing the cart has always been a huge pet peeve of mine. Children do not excuse common courtesy. We should instead be even MORE aware since we are now setting the example.

wendy46001 · February 2012

Totally admit that I?m lazy and have no intention of returning my cart. That?s why I shop at publix, the nice person who bags my groceries walks the cart to my car and back to the store Cool

alipie02 · February 2012

Wow I so wasn't trying to start anything with this post.

I guess my confusion is that I've always heard never leave your child alone in a vehicle. So i assumed that meant, ya know, never. It honestly never crossed my mind because I've just had that so drilled into my head.

I do want to say to the posters who assume that I'm a worry wart mom who stresses over every little possible danger to my child I'm so not. I think I'm relatively laid back when it comes to parenting. I just really truly had always believed that this is one of the worst mistakes you can make when it comes to having your child out and about. I guess I can probably rethink some things now.

Also to the people who were offended by my story of the couple at the rest stop. Obviously I realize that the two situations are not the same. What i was trying to point out however was the fact that these parents were literally within an arms reach of their vehicle the whole time and yet the car was still taken. I was just trying to say that as random and unlikely as it seems it has happened before.

I may be a little more scared about car theft because of where I live, I will grant you that. i live in a small town, but the state prison is less than two miles from town. Escapes don't happen often, but they do happen and when they do the first thing that an inmate does is steal a car. So I guess maybe I'm paranoid.

But I do think to make me out to be an over mothering freak or lazy is a bit unfair. If you google leaving a child in a car, the thing you will read the most is the words, Never do this. I guess I just took this too literally.

J9melissa · February 2012

alipie02:

I may be a little more scared about car theft because of where I live, I will grant you that. i live in a small town, but the state prison is less than two miles from town. Escapes don't happen often, but they do happen and when they do the first thing that an inmate does is steal a car. So I guess maybe I'm paranoid.

Paranoid...Yes.

An escaped convict is not going to go to a crowded shopping center to steal a car. They will be trying to stay as far away from people as they can so they go unnoticed. I've heard of stories where escaped convicts break into homes to hide out. Are you now going to be scared out of your own home?

pammeelala · February 2012

alipie02:

I may be a little more scared about car theft because of where I live, I will grant you that. i live in a small town, but the state prison is less than two miles from town. Escapes don't happen often, but they do happen and when they do the first thing that an inmate does is steal a car. So I guess maybe I'm paranoid.

Ok, not saying this to sound like a b!tch, but really? Our state prison is in one of our suburbs, also.

Yes, escaped convicts steal vehicles. Do you really think they will go to a shopping center where people are coming and going, many have security cameras, steal a car where they will be noticed, and grab just any old car without checking for things like unlocked doors, children, animals, etc... Do you think they would want to risk getting caught like that and adding felony kidnapping to the list of mounting charges like grand theft auto and whatever the charge for escaping is?

Or do you think it is more likely that they will go to a neighborhood and find a car where people may not be home and left one behind, unlocked, no security cameras, no people coming and going...

Jills83 · February 2012

I had no idea shopping carts were so controversial. My opinion is that I like calling them "buggies" instead of carts.

SarahP15 · February 2012

alipie02:

I guess my confusion is that I've always heard never leave your child alone in a vehicle. So i assumed that meant, ya know, never. It honestly never crossed my mind because I've just had that so drilled into my head.

I think common sense has to be used in addition to all the rules and recommendations by the various organizations. Some things are highly unlikely so to me, they're not worth worrying about.

J9melissa · February 2012

Jills83:
I had no idea shopping carts were so controversial. My opinion is that I like calling them "buggies" instead of carts.

I may start calling them that!

jgengo0 · February 2012

klang621:
I always park next to a cart corral, across from one, one car away from one...I've never had an issue finding a spot. I can't stand it when people don't put their carts away....how long does it take???? 30 seconds...where I'm from there are at least 2 cart corrals in every lane. I think its just laziness.

this exactly.

I can honestly say I have never left my cart.

alipie02 · February 2012

J9melissa:
alipie02:

I may be a little more scared about car theft because of where I live, I will grant you that. i live in a small town, but the state prison is less than two miles from town. Escapes don't happen often, but they do happen and when they do the first thing that an inmate does is steal a car. So I guess maybe I'm paranoid.

Paranoid...Yes.
An escaped convict is not going to go to a crowded shopping center to steal a car. They will be trying to stay as far away from people as they can so they go unnoticed. I've heard of stories where escaped convicts break into homes to hide out. Are you now going to be scared out of your own home?

No I"m not going to be scared to leave my home, but we do have an alarm system in place for this very purpose. The last two break outs that happened, one was three years ago, the other i don't know maybe seven years ago? Anyway both times cars were stolen from large parking lots full of cars, not homes. Once was a car from a truck stop and the other was a car from the high school. There were people around when both cars were stolen.

I realize that the possibility of my car being stolen with my baby inside is remote, I'm not an idiot. But there are a lot of dangerous to my child that are remote that i still protect her from. I don't think the chances are very high that she's going to be exposed to small pox or polio but i still get her the vaccines. The chances are very low that she'll die of SIDS but I still put her on her back to sleep, well did before she could roll over.

I just think saying the chances of something happening being low is a poor excuse to justify doing something. Lots of things probably won't happen, but I still do my best to keep them from happening just the same. How is this different?

I realize leaving my cart out is a rude thing to do, I'm not trying to justify it. I feel bad when I do it and honestly it doesn't happen often. I try to either park close to a corral or go when the weather is good enough that she can handle being outside for a bit. Or I go shopping alone and leave her with DH. But those things aren't always possible. So on these rare occasions yes i leave my cart in an at the front of my vehicle, it's a shitty thing to do. I feel bad when i do it. But not bad enough to walk away from my LO in the car. I guess maybe I am overprotective.

Marcilene1 · February 2012

I think that this is one of those things that depends on where you live/shop. My brother has had his windows broken and things stolen out of his car THREE TIMES in a shopping center parking lot. A friend had her car stolen from a parking lot in broad daylight. If it is raining out and I cannot find a spot right next to the corral, the cart stays where it is. And for those of you who think nothing can happen in 30 seconds, you probably live in a very safe low-crime area and good for you. Not all of us can say the same.

supermom83 · February 2012

kimbo1216:

rlmanning:
In the summer time my cart never gets put back. Where I live we get heat waves of 110 + degrees. I WILL NOT leave my child in the car to put the cart back NO MATTER HOW LAZY ANYONE thinks I am.

I live in Texas. I know hot. I ALWAYS put my cart back. It's not about thinking people are lazy, it's about being courteous and respectful. Frankly, it's rude. Often, they end up banging into cars or taking up spaces.

1. No one said you have to leave your kid in the car if it's hot. Leave LO in the buggy until you get to the coral, then carry him/her back to the car. If it's too hot for LO to be outside that long, then you probably should not have brought him/her out in the first place.

2. Park next to a coral. Problem solved. No space next to a coral? Refer back to #1.

Completely agree with Kimbo. There's never a need to not return the cart. I do #1 and #2 all the time and I do it with two kids. No excuses.

J9melissa · February 2012

chrismo1013:
I think that this is one of those things that depends on where you live/shop. My brother has had his windows broken and things stolen out of his car THREE TIMES in a shopping center parking lot. A friend had her car stolen from a parking lot in broad daylight. If it is raining out and I cannot find a spot right next to the corral, the cart stays where it is. And for those of you who think nothing can happen in 30 seconds, you probably live in a very safe low-crime area and good for you. Not all of us can say the same.

I live in Indianapolis. Not a low crime area.

hepcats · February 2012

J9melissa:
Jills83:
I had no idea shopping carts were so controversial. My opinion is that I like calling them "buggies" instead of carts.
I may start calling them that!

Yes

klang621 · February 2012

chrismo1013:
I think that this is one of those things that depends on where you live/shop. My brother has had his windows broken and things stolen out of his car THREE TIMES in a shopping center parking lot. A friend had her car stolen from a parking lot in broad daylight. If it is raining out and I cannot find a spot right next to the corral, the cart stays where it is. And for those of you who think nothing can happen in 30 seconds, you probably live in a very safe low-crime area and good for you. Not all of us can say the same.

You're right...the city of Chicago has been rated one of the safest cities in the US, I guess I shouldn't be concerned at all.

J9melissa · February 2012

alipie02:
I just think saying the chances of something happening being low is a poor excuse to justify doing something. Lots of things probably won't happen, but I still do my best to keep them from happening just the same. How is this different?

You have a chance of being killed while driving, yet you still choose to do it. You weigh the pros and cons and go from there. For me, the Pros FAR out weigh the possibility of something outrageous happening.

SarahP15 · February 2012

chrismo1013:
I think that this is one of those things that depends on where you live/shop. My brother has had his windows broken and things stolen out of his car THREE TIMES in a shopping center parking lot. A friend had her car stolen from a parking lot in broad daylight. If it is raining out and I cannot find a spot right next to the corral, the cart stays where it is. And for those of you who think nothing can happen in 30 seconds, you probably live in a very safe low-crime area and good for you. Not all of us can say the same.

Just to play devil's advocate here, was your brother returning a cart to the corral when his car was broken into? Probably not. When someone sees you return to your car and that your car is in plain sight of you and you're less than 10 seconds away, not too many will still attempt a break-in. People who are committing theft like that are most likely sitting in the parking lot waiting for people to pull in and park and then break into their car as soon as they're in the store and not when they're returning their cart.

And I live 30 mins outside of Chicago. I wouldn't say my area is "safe." We have a huge drug problem, gang activity and theft but I still have no problem leaving my car for 10 seconds with DS in it when I'm leaving for 10 seconds to return my cart.

sunset+skies · February 2012

alipie02:
LaceFace14:
I really can't imagine what could happen that minute with a baby strapped in a carseat.
Did anyone ever see that GMA a few months ago about the young couple who fought off a carjacking while their baby was in the backseat? I'm probably not remembering all the details correctly but I think this is what happened.
A young couple left their daughter asleep in her car seat at a rest stop at like two in the morning. They got out of the vehicle and locked the doors and then stepped to the passenger side of the vehicle to speak to the wife's parents who were driving with them in a moving van. They were within two feet of the car at all times and the car was locked.
A man snuck over to the driver's side door, broke the window and took off with the car in about 5-10 seconds. Luckily the mother was able to run along side the car and break out the passenger window and her husband was able to get into the car and stop the guy.
I know it seems unlikely but these things can happen faster than you would believe.
I just can't imagine taking the risk.

I didn't read all the replies, so maybe someone already said this. These people left their baby in an UNLOCKED AND RUNNING car while one walked about 20 feet away, leaned into the window of the moving van to talk (i.e. back to their car), and the other went into the store. It was the mother who broke the passenger side window in the process of trying to open the door to get into the car. Their excuse was that they "could see the car so they thought it was safe". It is physically impossible to break a window, pop the door lock, get in, find the wires, and hotwire a car in 5-10 seconds. Especially since post-2003 cars are almost impossible to hotwire.

You'd hate me. Not only do I leave my kid in the car while I put the cart away, I leave one kid in the unlocked vehicle in my (very short) driveway while I take the second kid inside the house and set him down safely. It would be a million times easier to steal my car and/or my baby in my own driveway than it would in a parking lot full of witnesses, with direct visibility to the car pretty much at all times. Sometimes, you do what you've got to do.

alipie02 · February 2012

J9melissa:
alipie02:
I just think saying the chances of something happening being low is a poor excuse to justify doing something. Lots of things probably won't happen, but I still do my best to keep them from happening just the same. How is this different?
You have a chance of being killed while driving, yet you still choose to do it. You weigh the pros and cons and go from there. For me, the Pros FAR out weigh the possibility of something outrageous happening.

You're right you do have to weight the pros and cons of thins. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel like I've done that and given what I know I'm not willing to leave her alone. And by that I mean out in public. Being alone in our own home is different than being alone in a public place with strangers around.

I think maybe some of it does have to do with where you live. I think part of me just feels like i don't live in the best of towns. Granted i live in a small town but it has a high crime rate. The week before Christmas a woman was stabbed 32 times by her ex in the same grocery store parking lot that I'm talking about.

Again, I realize this has nothing to do with leaving your kid in a car. What I'm saying is that she was stabbed on an afternoon in a crowded parking lot and no one who witnessed it did anything to help her. It's sad but true, a crowd stood around and watched while the attack lasted for over minute.

I guess i just don't think that if something completely unexpected were to happen that there would be anyone around who would help. And I don't have enough confidence in my clumsy self to think that I would manage to make it back to the car and stop someone from stealing it or taking my kid before they could do it. Especially when the weather sucks and the ground is icy.

I am sorry for all the people who think I'm rude for not putting my cart away. (Also I like the term buggy better too). I try hard to avoid doing it and I promise that when its not so miserably cold and windy i will never do it.

emilys629 · February 2012

This thread is hilarious. Leaving your cart jacked up on a median or in a parking spot is so rude and entitled. "Someone else will take care of this for me." Maybe that someone else is a mom, with a baby, who will have to leave HERS in the car to move your cart so she can park.

If some of you live in such rugged and frozen terrain with such terrible high crime rates, why are you taking your babies out at all. Come on. So absurd. Agree with PP who said having a child does not excuse rudeness.

Habrsk87 · February 2012

alipie02:

So I'm posting this here instead of over there because I've never posted over there and if I'm going to get flamed I'd rather it be from people I know

Ok so the whole putting your shopping cart back argument that's going on, I have a question about this. I'm totally guilty of not putting my cart back in the cart corral thingy and I don't understand how other people don't have this problem.

When I take LO to the store and the weather is bad I bundle her up and hold her as I quickly get into the store, then I put her in a cart once we're inside. Once I'm done shopping she sits in the cart thingy (or in her carrier when she was really little) and I push her to the car. I then put her into the car first so she's not out in the cold and then I put my groceries away.

I try to find spots close to the cart corral, but they're not always available. So in that situation I leave my cart out because I'm not going to walk away from by vehicle with my baby inside it. I'm also not willing to leave my LO sitting in the cart while I unload groceries and then take the cart back, then walk back to my vehicle.

So what is the solution here? Do the people who are against this live in places where it just doesn't get that cold? I live in a place where we have snow nine months out of the year and routinely have wind gusts over 60mph, there are times when it is actually -30 here. I'd rather be the *** who left my cart out than the mother who either a) left my baby alone in a vehicle or b) left my baby out in below zero weather.

You can flame me all you want if you disagree with this, but I would like solutions too if anyone has come up with them.

P.S. I don't do this in nice weather if that helps. Oh and sorry this turned out to be so long.

I strongly agree with you! I also thought it was illegal to leave your baby unattended in a car even for a few seconds. Let alone a freezing cold one! That is just messed up and we have about the same weather you do where ever you are from. I was a cart pusher once in college and that is what their jobs is for to put carts in the right place when people like us are unable too. So whoever is against that think of it as it creates another job!

Habrsk87 · February 2012

emilys629:

This thread is hilarious. Leaving your cart jacked up on a median or in a parking spot is so rude and entitled. "Someone else will take care of this for me." Maybe that someone else is a mom, with a baby, who will have to leave HERS in the car to move your cart so she can park.

If some of you live in such rugged and frozen terrain with such terrible high crime rates, why are you taking your babies out at all. Come on. So absurd. Agree with PP who said having a child does not excuse rudeness.

Not to flame you but if we didn't take our baby out so we can get food we would strave...Who else will do it for us. Weather is bad most of the year!

Marcilene1 · February 2012

emilys629:

This thread is hilarious. Leaving your cart jacked up on a median or in a parking spot is so rude and entitled. "Someone else will take care of this for me." Maybe that someone else is a mom, with a baby, who will have to leave HERS in the car to move your cart so she can park.

If some of you live in such rugged and frozen terrain with such terrible high crime rates, why are you taking your babies out at all. Come on. So absurd. Agree with PP who said having a child does not excuse rudeness.

This is rude. I'm not saying that I never return the cart. I am saying that when it is raining/snowing and I can't get a spot next to the corral the cart stays by the car. Sorry. Not going to walk halfway across a parking lot carrying my baby in the rain (while pregnant, by the way) and I am not leaving her in the car by herself locked or unlocked for any reason. Also, there are parking lot attendants whose job it is to take care of putting back carts in the lobby of the store.

magnoliablossom00 · February 2012

I will be flamed and that's ok. I guess I'm a big hoosier because I never park near the cart corral and rarely put the cart back (when I'm with LO). Here is my reasoning....

I had the back of my car effed up in a Target parking lot from a cart that someone either slammed into my car on purpose, or left it and it somehow gathered up enough force to leave a big dent. On that particular day, I had parked next to the cart corral. I went back inside Target and told them, and they said they couldn't do anything about it/didn't have cameras in the parking lot, etc. I ALWAYS avoid parking near the corral now. And because I'm parked SO far away from the corral with LO, I just prop it up and go.

If I am alone, I always walk the cart back. However, if LO is with me and the corral isn't close by, I prop it up onto a median so that it doesn't roll. I wouldn't ever leave it just sitting out (or else someone else's car would get jacked up!)

alipie02 · February 2012

emilys629:
This thread is hilarious. Leaving your cart jacked up on a median or in a parking spot is so rude and entitled. "Someone else will take care of this for me." Maybe that someone else is a mom, with a baby, who will have to leave HERS in the car to move your cart so she can park.
If some of you live in such rugged and frozen terrain with such terrible high crime rates, why are you taking your babies out at all. Come on. So absurd. Agree with PP who said having a child does not excuse rudeness.

I think this is a little uncalled for. I'm not at all exagerrating the weather in my area. Last winter we had seventeen days in a row where the temperature never reached above minus thirty and that was not including the windchill. It dropped down to minus 45 some nights.

Seventeen days is a long time to go without leaving the house. I have a DH who works long hours and drives nearly an hour in good weather to get to and from work. He's not home enough for me to plan grocery shopping around him and the weather.

Does it suck that I live in a place with such bad weather? Yeah, it really does, I hate being stuck inside most of the year and I especially hate seeing it snow in July (which it has many times). I wish we could live somewhere more baby friendly but my DH's job and my family all live here.

Also we have one grocery store in town, no options of shopping elsewhere, they don't deliver, and they have two cart corrals at the front of the lot. If the place is packed and I'm at the back of the lot its easily a thirty second walk to the corral and thirty seconds back, with my back to the car for the entire walk to the corral.

Not the same as leaving LO and walking fifteen feet away from the vehicle.

emilys629 · February 2012

chrismo1013:
emilys629:

This thread is hilarious. Leaving your cart jacked up on a median or in a parking spot is so rude and entitled. "Someone else will take care of this for me." Maybe that someone else is a mom, with a baby, who will have to leave HERS in the car to move your cart so she can park.

If some of you live in such rugged and frozen terrain with such terrible high crime rates, why are you taking your babies out at all. Come on. So absurd. Agree with PP who said having a child does not excuse rudeness.

This is rude. I'm not saying that I never return the cart. I am saying that when it is raining/snowing and I can't get a spot next to the corral the cart stays by the car. Sorry. Not going to walk halfway across a parking lot carrying my baby in the rain (while pregnant, by the way) and I am not leaving her in the car by herself locked or unlocked for any reason. Also, there are parking lot attendants whose job it is to take care of putting back carts in the lobby of the store.

Yeah... this is sort of what I was getting at by entitlement. It's his/her job to fetch carts in the corral. It's not his/her job to fetch carts blown by the wind to the end of the parking lot. Or try to dislodge one stuck on a median. There are janitors, that doesn't mean we throw trash on the floor.

And to PP, you're right. Some places the weather is awful all the time, and I didn't mean to suggest you should never go out. I was directing it at those who said they couldn't spare the extra 30 seconds to return the cart.

SarahP15 · February 2012

alipie02:
emilys629:

This thread is hilarious. Leaving your cart jacked up on a median or in a parking spot is so rude and entitled. "Someone else will take care of this for me." Maybe that someone else is a mom, with a baby, who will have to leave HERS in the car to move your cart so she can park.

If some of you live in such rugged and frozen terrain with such terrible high crime rates, why are you taking your babies out at all. Come on. So absurd. Agree with PP who said having a child does not excuse rudeness.

I think this is a little uncalled for. I'm not at all exagerrating the weather in my area. Last winter we had seventeen days in a row where the temperature never reached above minus thirty and that was not including the windchill. It dropped down to minus 45 some nights.

Seventeen days is a long time to go without leaving the house. I have a DH who works long hours and drives nearly an hour in good weather to get to and from work. He's not home enough for me to plan grocery shopping around him and the weather.

Does it suck that I live in a place with such bad weather? Yeah, it really does, I hate being stuck inside most of the year and I especially hate seeing it snow in July (which it has many times). I wish we could live somewhere more baby friendly but my DH's job and my family all live here.

Also we have one grocery store in town, no options of shopping elsewhere, they don't deliver, and they have two cart corrals at the front of the lot. If the place is packed and I'm at the back of the lot its easily a thirty second walk to the corral and thirty seconds back, with my back to the car for the entire walk to the corral.

Not the same as leaving LO and walking fifteen feet away from the vehicle.

I really don't think inclement weather is an excuse to leave your cart in the middle of the lot for someone else to clean up. I understand cold weather, but the grocery store is not packed at all times. In fact, when I shop during the week in the mornings, most people are at work and the store is never busy. Maybe you could figure out a good time to go when your store isn't busy. And if it takes 30 seconds to walk to and from, then I suggest running. That's what I do in bad weather.

Marcilene1 · February 2012

emilys629:
chrismo1013:
emilys629:

This thread is hilarious. Leaving your cart jacked up on a median or in a parking spot is so rude and entitled. "Someone else will take care of this for me." Maybe that someone else is a mom, with a baby, who will have to leave HERS in the car to move your cart so she can park.

If some of you live in such rugged and frozen terrain with such terrible high crime rates, why are you taking your babies out at all. Come on. So absurd. Agree with PP who said having a child does not excuse rudeness.

This is rude. I'm not saying that I never return the cart. I am saying that when it is raining/snowing and I can't get a spot next to the corral the cart stays by the car. Sorry. Not going to walk halfway across a parking lot carrying my baby in the rain (while pregnant, by the way) and I am not leaving her in the car by herself locked or unlocked for any reason. Also, there are parking lot attendants whose job it is to take care of putting back carts in the lobby of the store.

Yeah... this is sort of what I was getting at by entitlement. It's his/her job to fetch carts in the corral. It's not his/her job to fetch carts blown by the wind to the end of the parking lot. Or try to dislodge one stuck on a median. There are janitors, that doesn't mean we throw trash on the floor.

And to PP, you're right. Some places the weather is awful all the time, and I didn't mean to suggest you should never go out. I was directing it at those who said they couldn't spare the extra 30 seconds to return the cart.

Listen, I do not know where you live or what kind of shopping center you go to, but you really need to relax. Did you even read the rest of my post in which I said that most of the time I do return the cart? I am simply saying that I am not leaving my baby in a car alone for any reason. If it happens to be raining out the cart stays where it is. It's not about entitlement. It is about risk vs. reward and in this case the risk just isn't worth it to me. If you feel comfortable leaving your baby alone in the car while you walk across the parking lot, then go right ahead.

klang621 · February 2012

Habrsk87:
alipie02:

So I'm posting this here instead of over there because I've never posted over there and if I'm going to get flamed I'd rather it be from people I know

Ok so the whole putting your shopping cart back argument that's going on, I have a question about this. I'm totally guilty of not putting my cart back in the cart corral thingy and I don't understand how other people don't have this problem.

When I take LO to the store and the weather is bad I bundle her up and hold her as I quickly get into the store, then I put her in a cart once we're inside. Once I'm done shopping she sits in the cart thingy (or in her carrier when she was really little) and I push her to the car. I then put her into the car first so she's not out in the cold and then I put my groceries away.

I try to find spots close to the cart corral, but they're not always available. So in that situation I leave my cart out because I'm not going to walk away from by vehicle with my baby inside it. I'm also not willing to leave my LO sitting in the cart while I unload groceries and then take the cart back, then walk back to my vehicle.

So what is the solution here? Do the people who are against this live in places where it just doesn't get that cold? I live in a place where we have snow nine months out of the year and routinely have wind gusts over 60mph, there are times when it is actually -30 here. I'd rather be the *** who left my cart out than the mother who either a) left my baby alone in a vehicle or b) left my baby out in below zero weather.

You can flame me all you want if you disagree with this, but I would like solutions too if anyone has come up with them.

P.S. I don't do this in nice weather if that helps. Oh and sorry this turned out to be so long.

I strongly agree with you! I also thought it was illegal to leave your baby unattended in a car even for a few seconds. Let alone a freezing cold one! That is just messed up and we have about the same weather you do where ever you are from. I was a cart pusher once in college and that is what their jobs is for to put carts in the right place when people like us are unable too. So whoever is against that think of it as it creates another job!

what a BS comment...their job is not to chase carts around the lot, its to take the carts from the corral and bring them back into the store. Just because lazy people don't put them in the corral it doesn't create an extra job. The original person they hired has to take care of it. Give me a break.

Do you guys not have weather forecasts on the internet?? Can you not see when bad weather is coming? If I knew weather was going to be bad I would stock up on supplies.

If you can't rely on DH being home on a regular basis, how about asking him to pick up some food on his way home from work?

cassoppea · February 2012

I front carry Avery when we go grocery shopping so I leave her in there until I unload the bags and return the cart. Solves the problem of leaving her in the car. I live in New England and sometimes the weather is gross but if she's dressed properly then having her outside for a minute or two is NBD.

alipie02 · February 2012

This is what I usually do. Like I've said it's not like I do this every time I shop. I try hard to go when I know I can get a spot up front near the corral. But you know how life is sometimes you have nothing in the fridge for dinner at five on a Friday. (at least I hope I'm not the only one this unorganized Wink )

So on those rare occasions when the place is packed and I'm stuck at the back then I do leave it. If there is a light pole or curb or anything I can leave it against then I do so it won't blow anywhere.

You run when the ground is icy? Because I'm the world's biggest klutz, if I run in bad weather, then I fall and break my butt usually.

I know some people will never agree with me, but I do want to point out I swear I don't feel entitled. I don't feel like it's the cart runners job to get my cart or anything. There are just occasional times when I don't feel comfortable enough stepping away from my car to take the cart back.

magnoliablossom00 · February 2012

SarahP15:
alipie02:
emilys629:

This thread is hilarious. Leaving your cart jacked up on a median or in a parking spot is so rude and entitled. "Someone else will take care of this for me." Maybe that someone else is a mom, with a baby, who will have to leave HERS in the car to move your cart so she can park.

If some of you live in such rugged and frozen terrain with such terrible high crime rates, why are you taking your babies out at all. Come on. So absurd. Agree with PP who said having a child does not excuse rudeness.

I think this is a little uncalled for. I'm not at all exagerrating the weather in my area. Last winter we had seventeen days in a row where the temperature never reached above minus thirty and that was not including the windchill. It dropped down to minus 45 some nights.

Seventeen days is a long time to go without leaving the house. I have a DH who works long hours and drives nearly an hour in good weather to get to and from work. He's not home enough for me to plan grocery shopping around him and the weather.

Does it suck that I live in a place with such bad weather? Yeah, it really does, I hate being stuck inside most of the year and I especially hate seeing it snow in July (which it has many times). I wish we could live somewhere more baby friendly but my DH's job and my family all live here.

Also we have one grocery store in town, no options of shopping elsewhere, they don't deliver, and they have two cart corrals at the front of the lot. If the place is packed and I'm at the back of the lot its easily a thirty second walk to the corral and thirty seconds back, with my back to the car for the entire walk to the corral.

Not the same as leaving LO and walking fifteen feet away from the vehicle.

I really don't think inclement weather is an excuse to leave your cart in the middle of the lot for someone else to clean up. I understand cold weather, but the grocery store is not packed at all times. In fact, when I shop during the week in the mornings, most people are at work and the store is never busy. Maybe you could figure out a good time to go when your store isn't busy. And if it takes 30 seconds to walk to and from, then I suggest running. That's what I do in bad weather.

Not trying to be the devil's advocate here, and I completely understand the point you're trying to make, but running? Really? Running (or even walking!) on ice is super dangerous.

SarahP15 · February 2012

mkd00:
SarahP15:
alipie02:
emilys629:

This thread is hilarious. Leaving your cart jacked up on a median or in a parking spot is so rude and entitled. "Someone else will take care of this for me." Maybe that someone else is a mom, with a baby, who will have to leave HERS in the car to move your cart so she can park.

If some of you live in such rugged and frozen terrain with such terrible high crime rates, why are you taking your babies out at all. Come on. So absurd. Agree with PP who said having a child does not excuse rudeness.

I think this is a little uncalled for. I'm not at all exagerrating the weather in my area. Last winter we had seventeen days in a row where the temperature never reached above minus thirty and that was not including the windchill. It dropped down to minus 45 some nights.

Seventeen days is a long time to go without leaving the house. I have a DH who works long hours and drives nearly an hour in good weather to get to and from work. He's not home enough for me to plan grocery shopping around him and the weather.

Does it suck that I live in a place with such bad weather? Yeah, it really does, I hate being stuck inside most of the year and I especially hate seeing it snow in July (which it has many times). I wish we could live somewhere more baby friendly but my DH's job and my family all live here.

Also we have one grocery store in town, no options of shopping elsewhere, they don't deliver, and they have two cart corrals at the front of the lot. If the place is packed and I'm at the back of the lot its easily a thirty second walk to the corral and thirty seconds back, with my back to the car for the entire walk to the corral.

Not the same as leaving LO and walking fifteen feet away from the vehicle.

I really don't think inclement weather is an excuse to leave your cart in the middle of the lot for someone else to clean up. I understand cold weather, but the grocery store is not packed at all times. In fact, when I shop during the week in the mornings, most people are at work and the store is never busy. Maybe you could figure out a good time to go when your store isn't busy. And if it takes 30 seconds to walk to and from, then I suggest running. That's what I do in bad weather.

Not trying to be the devil's advocate here, and I completely understand the point you're trying to make, but running? Really? Running (or even walking!) on ice is super dangerous.

I'm just being difficult. I do run quite a bit and I've never had a problem, but I know it's not the safest. Our grocery stores keep things pretty well plowed and salted so that's probably saved my a$$ (literally) a few times

MammaBear81 · February 2012

PurdueMama14:
Uhh yeah, flame away but I always put the cart back and get really irritated when people don't. It takes me 30 seconds max to run the cart to the cart corral. I strap Reed in his car seat, load the groceries, lock the door, and run to put my cart away.

This

klang621 · February 2012

alipie02:
This is what I usually do. Like I've said it's not like I do this every time I shop. I try hard to go when I know I can get a spot up front near the corral. But you know how life is sometimes you have nothing in the fridge for dinner at five on a Friday. (at least I hope I'm not the only one this unorganized)
So on those rare occasions when the place is packed and I'm stuck at the back then I do leave it. If there is a light pole or curb or anything I can leave it against then I do so it won't blow anywhere.
You run when the ground is icy? Because I'm the world's biggest klutz, if I run in bad weather, then I fall and break my butt usually.
I know some people will never agree with me, but I do want to point out I swear I don't feel entitled. I don't feel like it's the cart runners job to get my cart or anything. There are just occasional times when I don't feel comfortable enough stepping away from my car to take the cart back.

if you're just picking up something for dinner...why do you need a cart? you should be able to carry a bag back to the car without the cart...no?

Personally I would order a pizza.

Marcilene1 · February 2012

cassoppea:
I front carry Avery when we go grocery shopping so I leave her in there until I unload the bags and return the cart. Solves the problem of leaving her in the car. I live in New England and sometimes the weather is gross but if she's dressed properly then having her outside for a minute or two is NBD.

I used to do this also, but I'm too pregnant to carry her anymore. Makes me sad

alipie02 · February 2012

Do you guys not have weather forecasts on the internet?? Can you not see when bad weather is coming? If I knew weather was going to be bad I would stock up on supplies.

If you can't rely on DH being home on a regular basis, how about asking him to pick up some food on his way home from work?

Of course we have weather forecasts. That doesn't help me much when it's going on two or three weeks of straight bad weather and we're out of milk.

DH often gets snowed into the town where his work is. If the highway closes while he's out on location he's not getting back until it opens again.

There have been many times also when there has been no warning before a cold snap. Just because it isn't storming doesn't mean the weather isn't still horrible. It's mostly the cold I worry about, I know DD can handle getting rained or even snowed on. But when the wind is gusting and the weather is below freezing, it's a struggle to know what to do.

alipie02 · February 2012

klang621:
alipie02:
This is what I usually do. Like I've said it's not like I do this every time I shop. I try hard to go when I know I can get a spot up front near the corral. But you know how life is sometimes you have nothing in the fridge for dinner at five on a Friday. (at least I hope I'm not the only one this unorganized)
So on those rare occasions when the place is packed and I'm stuck at the back then I do leave it. If there is a light pole or curb or anything I can leave it against then I do so it won't blow anywhere.
You run when the ground is icy? Because I'm the world's biggest klutz, if I run in bad weather, then I fall and break my butt usually.
I know some people will never agree with me, but I do want to point out I swear I don't feel entitled. I don't feel like it's the cart runners job to get my cart or anything. There are just occasional times when I don't feel comfortable enough stepping away from my car to take the cart back.
if you're just picking up something for dinner...why do you need a cart? you should be able to carry a bag back to the car without the cart...no??

You're right I guess what I was thinking of is those times when I'm unorganized and end up needing things like milk and cat litter or dog food etc. Like I go just really quickly and then remember more things we need. I guess I should just try and be more organized and I can avoid the whole mess.

hepcats · February 2012

Okay alipie02, spill it. WTF do you live?? lol Good God woman, I seriously would have moved by now if it was that bad where I am. I can't imagine dealing with that withOUT a LO.

Habrsk87 · February 2012

klang621:
Habrsk87:
alipie02:

So I'm posting this here instead of over there because I've never posted over there and if I'm going to get flamed I'd rather it be from people I know

Ok so the whole putting your shopping cart back argument that's going on, I have a question about this. I'm totally guilty of not putting my cart back in the cart corral thingy and I don't understand how other people don't have this problem.

When I take LO to the store and the weather is bad I bundle her up and hold her as I quickly get into the store, then I put her in a cart once we're inside. Once I'm done shopping she sits in the cart thingy (or in her carrier when she was really little) and I push her to the car. I then put her into the car first so she's not out in the cold and then I put my groceries away.

I try to find spots close to the cart corral, but they're not always available. So in that situation I leave my cart out because I'm not going to walk away from by vehicle with my baby inside it. I'm also not willing to leave my LO sitting in the cart while I unload groceries and then take the cart back, then walk back to my vehicle.

So what is the solution here? Do the people who are against this live in places where it just doesn't get that cold? I live in a place where we have snow nine months out of the year and routinely have wind gusts over 60mph, there are times when it is actually -30 here. I'd rather be the *** who left my cart out than the mother who either a) left my baby alone in a vehicle or b) left my baby out in below zero weather.

You can flame me all you want if you disagree with this, but I would like solutions too if anyone has come up with them.

P.S. I don't do this in nice weather if that helps. Oh and sorry this turned out to be so long.

I strongly agree with you! I also thought it was illegal to leave your baby unattended in a car even for a few seconds. Let alone a freezing cold one! That is just messed up and we have about the same weather you do where ever you are from. I was a cart pusher once in college and that is what their jobs is for to put carts in the right place when people like us are unable too. So whoever is against that think of it as it creates another job!

what a BS comment...their job is not to chase carts around the lot, its to take the carts from the corral and bring them back into the store. Just because lazy people don't put them in the corral it doesn't create an extra job. The original person they hired has to take care of it. Give me a break.

Do you guys not have weather forecasts on the internet?? Can you not see when bad weather is coming? If I knew weather was going to be bad I would stock up on supplies.

If you can't rely on DH being home on a regular basis, how about asking him to pick up some food on his way home from work?

LIKE I SAID I WAS A CART CHASER! that is what I got paid for and I gladly did it because I signed up for it. Besides that my DH isn't always able to be their to help me when he is we put our cart away. I am not taking my child out in freezing weather while I put the cart away and I am not leaving my child in a freezing car alone either. Also year round bad weather happens here and guess what! You can have fours season in a day weatherman isn't always right. Sunny one minute and blizzarding the next. How is that a "BS" comment?? Have you lived in an area like that with a baby? If not you really have no room to speak. I wounldn't live here if I didn't have to. This is where my job is this is where I have to be.

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