Shopping Carts
My friend Thom Fritz has a rare disease known as Friedreich's Ataxia, which affects his coordination in maneuvering and his ability to see objects from afar, and which has him confined to a motorized wheelchair.
Thom moves his hands and arms with great difficulty, but somehow manages to be one of the sunniest people I see in my week.
Today, at Starbucks, as I opened the door so he could roll on home, I saw that somebody had placed the shopping cart they were finished with directly in front of the ramp he needs to go down in his motorized wheelchair (followed by his big sweet service dog, "California").
Luckily, because I noticed that it would be in his path, I moved it out of the way, and snarled that somebody had left it there. Well, shopping carts, a ho-hum part of life to most of us, are one of Thom's fiercest daily enemies.
Thom told me to look up a piece he wrote about shopping carts on his blog, Life Is Good:
Many times I do not see obstacles until they are right in front of me. I go several times per week to the local Starbucks, and on other trips I go to Albertson's or Costco, which are located in the same shopping center. When I go to Albertson's I need to cross the parking lot of Costco where I see the issue manyfold.Often, I go zipping along minding my own business, lost in my thoughts, and I come across a shopping cart left lackadaisically in the middle of a walkway or sidewalk. I am bound to run into it, or be forced to make a last-minute maneuver to keep from running into it. These unexpected maneuvers lead to collisions of a catastrophic moment, leaving me with a broken and bloody foot or sending me careening off the sidewalk or walkway into the flower bed or even off the curb. Sometimes these encounters are not so catastrophic to me, but can be for other people. Like if I have to push a cart out of the way and it rolls off the curb into a parked car, damaging the paint, or into the stream of traffic, causing a traffic accident. Or the times when I just push the cart out of the way and it rolls into the window of a store, cracking it, or off the curb, falling over to block the road. When something happens because of my actions, this troubles me because there is little I can do about the situation. It's not like I can get up and catch the runaway cart or pick it up after it has fallen in the street. It might look to others like I am the instigator of the problem when, actually, I am not.
...Yet, the shopping cart has two purposes The first has a very logistical basis, the convenience, practicality and ease-of-use in transporting our groceries. The second is more of an observation and questions our relationship we have with others, or the lack thereof. It must be looked at a little more.
Sometimes even blocks from the shopping center I encounter a shopping cart left haphazardly in the middle of a walkway. And the closer I get to the shopping center the more I encounter. Until, sometimes, I cannot use the sidewalks or walkways at all. Many times, because I already have an idea that the walkways are blocked, I do not even try them but opt instead to drive my chair in the street or parking lot. Something that really irritates me is when people leave the cart right across the wheelchair ramp , dug against the wall at an angle so it won't roll down any further, forcing me to go down to the use the next ramp to enter the shopping center. I could go on and on for a long time about the many encounters I have had, but that would take much space and much of your time. I will say here that the issue is not only isolated to this shopping center but is a widespread phenomenon to many shopping centers I have gone to.
This brings me to the second part of this issue. What is going on in people's heads that they are so inconsiderate and leave the carts, whereever, when they are done? I not understand. Why is it that it is so hard to push the cart, after you have used it, back to the store or, at least, to a designated area for shopping carts? Granted, it is somewhat out of the way and inconvenient to push the cart all the way back to the front of the store.
I know whomever left the cart in his path surely didn't mean to do it. They just weren't mindful, like I wasn't when I used the big dressing room at Ross last year -- and came out and saw a woman in a wheelchair waiting to get in.
I was just horrified. This woman surely has a hard time doing things we all take for granted, and I made her life just that much harder by making her wait while I was twirling around in some discount dress.
I still feel sick about that, and wish I could give her back that 10 or 15 minutes she sat there while I didn't give a moment's thought to why one dressing room is bigger and has a wider door than all the others.
I can't change that now, but because of that, and because of knowing Thom, who's a truly great guy and sticks in my mind, I don't forget people who need ramps and bigger dressing rooms anymore, and I hope this moving blog item by Thom helps other people not forget them, too.
On a happier note, here's cool Thom's book about traveling across Australia in his motorized wheelchair, with the terrific title "RollWalkabout Australia."
I wouldn't worry about the dressing room thing, it's not like you were using the handicapped stall in the restroom for more than a quick pee. It's annoying to wait to try on clothes, but not compared to waiting to pee or crashing into a shopping cart.
NicoleK at September 19, 2011 1:23 AM
These days, if they're made of metal, the carts just get stolen. Probably sold for scrap.
damaged justice at September 19, 2011 3:07 AM
Also if the store isnt going to put a handicaped sign on the dressing room door, then how are you to know?
lujlp at September 19, 2011 4:06 AM
People get so caught up in their lives that they forget sometimes. It's always nice to be considerate of others especially when there are mobility issues involved. I learned this firsthand after becoming partially disabled. I look like nothing is wrong with me but an autoimmune disease is calcifying my spine and causing balance issues.
There are good days where walking is not a problem and bad where I need to lean on something. I've had people question my need for a handicap parking pass, but there are days that I need that spot up close. There are also days I feel good and I won't park in the spot despite my pass because I know there may be someone who will need it more than me. And every day I am grateful
I don't have to navigate life in a wheelchair. The people who do need our consideration.
Kristen at September 19, 2011 4:48 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/09/19/shopping_carts.html#comment-2491575">comment from KristenKristin is right, and regarding luj's comment, "Also if the store isnt going to put a handicaped sign on the dressing room door, then how are you to know?"
That is a good point -- I guess I wished I would have thought about why that dressing room was "princess-sized" compared to all the others. And it wasn't like I didn't have evidence right before that somebody might need to use it. I'd actually said hi to the woman in the wheelchair while I was shopping. Or smiled. I'm friendly, and so when I make eye contact with people, I'll smile or say hello.
Amy Alkon at September 19, 2011 5:17 AM
It irritates the ever-loving crap out of me when, in my neighborhood, I see people park their cars in their driveways so the bumper is hanging over the sidewalk, or let the plants/trees grow over their fences so they take up the sidewalk. It can make an otherwise navigable route for someone in a wheelchair completely impassable.
Choika at September 19, 2011 6:40 AM
Most folks are stupid and insensitive. What else is new?
Roger at September 19, 2011 7:25 AM
I strongly defend the right of regular folks to use handicapped stalls and changing rooms.
Thankfully there are very very few folks who need these stalls, and to never use them would be to turn them into entirely wasted space. I've probably used handicapped stalls 1,000 times and not once exited to see someone waiting for it. If the utility of me using a roomier stall is even as small as 10 cents per usage, then I would be out $100 or more in utility over the past few years...for absolutely no reason.
Multiply this by thousands of people in similar circumstances and it would be a criminal waste of resources to not use the larger stalls.
If once in a blue moon a person in a wheelchair has to wait 3 minutes, so be it. People have to wait for all sorts of things - buses, lines for the cashier, toilets.
It would be utterly foolish to avoid the bigger stalls, even when smaller ones are free.
That said, good post: I will pay more attention to how I park my cart after use.
TJIC at September 19, 2011 8:23 AM
@Roger:
> Most folks are stupid and insensitive. What else is new?
Way to demonize folks for no reason. A large number of folks who park carts that way may have never thought of the issues involved.
TJIC at September 19, 2011 8:24 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/09/19/shopping_carts.html#comment-2492232">comment from TJICI strongly defend the right of regular folks to use handicapped stalls and changing rooms.
I use handicapped bathroom stalls, but there is rarely a handicapped person in most places, first of all, and I am not going in to do the crossword puzzle or anything. I'm in and out fast. In the store, they had a bunch of Calvin Klein evening gowns for $23 dollars -- none of which quite fit, but I kept trying to see if one would work (for LA Press Club Awards), and I spent maybe 15 minutes in there twirling around while this woman may have been sitting outside (the entire time). Different situation.
Also, people sit at the table where Thom sits when he comes in. It's not a shrine. Anybody can use it. But when he does get to Starbucks, one of the staff brings his coffee and bun over and asks people to move over so he can have easy access in his chair.
When you see how hard it is for some people to perform tasks that we all take for granted, and give that a little thought, I think you're more mindful about being considerate and thinking of them in situations where you could leave an impediment. I'll never think of shopping carts the same way after reading Tom's piece. (I am, however, the girl who returns them to the little shopping cart area or takes them back up to the store -- takes 30 seconds and I don't want to have my car scratched by one, and I think you probably don't, either. I only now think of it from Thom's perspective.)
Amy Alkon at September 19, 2011 8:28 AM
A hundred years ago, I worked as a "courtesy clerk" (bag girl) for a large grocery store, and I was really amazed at how careless people were with the carts. Or, more so, how deliberately insistent they were not to put them in the designated areas. (The parking lot had multiple little grassy areas surrounded by curbs, and I watched a number of people struggle to put the carts up off the ground into the grasssy area. I assume that they were doing that to keep them from rolling away, but they were incredibly difficult to get *off* of these areas- why couldn't they just walk the extra few feet to put them in one of the spots?)
So, I've always been extra-careful with the carts just for the sake of the people who put them away, and for the safety of the cars. It's never occurred to me that they would create trouble for disabled people as well, though (Although I'm sure I would have thought of that before leaving one blocking a curb cut). I hope people read this and are more aware because of it.
Lyssa at September 19, 2011 10:30 AM
Working a HVAC job at the TN School for the Blind made me ultra aware/sensitive to the needs of others. Any thing we moved, left unlocked, or changed was potentially life threatening to the kids. Think about what you’re doing people.
Roger at September 19, 2011 11:01 AM
@Amy:
>Also, people sit at the table where Thom sits when he comes in. It's not a shrine. Anybody can use it. But when he does get to Starbucks, one of the staff brings his coffee and bun over and asks people to move over so he can have easy access in his chair.
OK, it sounds like we're on the same page:
1) it's OK to use facilities like stalls and tables that are optimized for handicapped folks
2) ...but common human decency goes a long way.
Agreed!
TJIC at September 19, 2011 11:48 AM
I read a story about somewhere in Europe you pay a small deposit to use the shopping cart and get it back when returned properly.
Seems a good idea.
lsomber at September 19, 2011 11:58 AM
I've always shook my head at how lazy most people are with shopping carts. Most people won't even walk a few feet to put them in the cart return areas. Even when they do, most won't even expend the tiny amount of energy to push them together and just leave them sitting all spread out and eventually jammed .
Though I do find it annoying when some places hare large lots and provide barely any (if any at all) cart return places.. they're just making it worse.
The mention of handicapped stuff: I do find the current rules (in CA at least) for how many handicapped parking spaces to be way out of line with reality. So many places tend to have several (often over a dozen) spots taking up the space of even more non-handicapped spaces, and yet I rarely see even 1 actually in use. I can understand the desire to have spaces set aside, but the current percentage (or whatever) used needs to be rethought and more flexibility allowed. It's that much more annoying when parking is a big issue yet several handicapped spots sit idle.
Miguelitosd at September 19, 2011 11:59 AM
Hell, I thought those shopping carts were all free gifts to the illegals, who seem to have no issue with simply taking them home with them
ronc at September 19, 2011 12:10 PM
@lsomber
Aldi in the US does this, and it is genius. The deposit is only 25 cents, but apparently, that's allll it takes to get people to walk across the lot, put the cart back neatly with the others, and not leave it in the middle of a parking spot like a lazyass.
sofar at September 19, 2011 1:24 PM
"Sometimes these encounters are not so catastrophic to me, but can be for other people. Like if I have to push a cart out of the way and it rolls off the curb into a parked car, damaging the paint, or into the stream of traffic, causing a traffic accident."
I have a mentally disabled brother, so I understand how hard it is to be different or challenged, but this struck me.
Part of that is knowing when you aren't really safe to do certain things. I feel for Thom, but the fact is a parking lot of a shopping center is naturally going to be full of shopping carts -many haphazardly placed, though they are easily visible and avoided by most people.
At my shopping center, there are employees who collect them frequently, so I think many people assume that even if they don't put them back in the designated areas, someone will be along soon to collect them. Often, an employee will do this before I've even loaded my groceries into the car.
Part of the challenge of being physically or mentally challenged is recognizing when your limitations pose a risk for others, as well as yourself. If he's causing car accidents because he comes upon carts he can't see, then he may need to have an aide along.
lovelysoul at September 19, 2011 1:58 PM
I read somewhere (I forget where) that common etiquette for handicapped stalls, water fountains, and dressing rooms is as follows: Use them as normal, but if a handicapped or wheelchair-bound person comes in, they go to the front of the line for that particular amenity. That's how I've seen it work in various public restrooms, too.
Not putting carts back is just lazy. Most grocery stores these days have those cart corral things.
Sarah at September 19, 2011 2:26 PM
People also leave carts in residential neighborhood. This past weekend, our neighborhood had 5 abandoned carts on a street that is 3 to 10 blocks from the the stores the carts were taken from.
We called the abandoned grocery carts hotline 800-252-4613. There's also Target, Bed/Bath, etc. at 310-452-9088.
Tom Pasadena at September 19, 2011 5:43 PM
You're a professional writer, Amy - it might be a good idea to learn how to use "whomever" correctly.
Matt at September 19, 2011 6:32 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/09/19/shopping_carts.html#comment-2494217">comment from MattYou're a professional writer, Amy - it might be a good idea to learn how to use "whomever" correctly.
I often make mistakes when I blog late at night (usually I swap "due" and "do," but sometimes I make grammatical errors). I always appreciate a certain kind of correction -- the one from a commenter who doesn't have a sneering, demeaning tone.
Professional writers make mistakes. I learn a lot from my copy editor, Super Dave. I adore him because he's such a sweetheart, and though he's in his late 20s, never feels the need to have snotty attitude like yours, Matt -- though he's pretty much the Mozart of grammar, in my experience. (Poor thing, he's probably tortured just reading a page in the morning paper.)
Amy Alkon at September 19, 2011 7:29 PM
I do want to point out one reason to reconsider using the handicap stalls in the bathroom. I knew a woman who was wheelchair bound and needed help to use the toilet. She had to be lifted out of her chair brought to the toilet, her clothing removed, sat on the toilet and then she could go. There were times that by the time she got to the bathroom in and help she didn't have the luxury of waiting to go. It didn't happen often and I'm sure the odds of her being outside of the stall you're using are slim. Its just a thought though that there are others like her.
Kristen at September 19, 2011 7:45 PM
Hey. Thank you for posting this post. That helped me alot.
Shelby Shelquist at October 18, 2011 9:37 AM
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