We’ve all seen that one cart that seems to have lost its herd. Worse yet are those times when the whole herd seems to have lost its way back to the pen.
The problem isn’t even limited to those giant megastores with miles long parking lots, either. Be it a tiny craft store, local grocer, or the ever-present town megamart, those meandering carts will find their way into the parking spaces.
Placing the cart stalls closer together may seem the most obvious, easy solution, but the length of the walk from the car to the cart return doesn’t matter. Inevitably there will be that one person who parks next to the return stall and leaves the cart in the space on the opposite side of the car.
There is only one real solution to the problem: self-returning carts. If all the shops would install a “New New York” (you’ve all seen Futurama, right?) style interwoven system of tubes below the parking lot, the carts would just have to be placed into holes in the ground and it would take care of the rest.
Then again, giant gaping holes might be a glaring safety hazard ripe for lawsuits. And of course there would be that one jerk who pushes the cart right to the edge of the hole and leaves it.
Maybe the carts need to fly instead…
What slight daily annoyances would you want changed? Anyone have a better idea for how to take care of the rogue shopping carts?
Handmade by Casey Kay 
As one who has had my car bashed in by a runaway cart, I share this pet peeve with you. I aim to park right next to the stall, thinking that if someone went to the trouble to get that close, they’d actually put the cart IN the stall. Yet, like you say, there is always that jerk.
No matter what it is in life, someone has to ruin it. Smart idea parking next to the stall in hopes they won’t miss. 🙂