Runaway carts are precisely why I park the Taco on the uphill edge of the lot and walk the 40 ish yards to the store.

It's flat here (no pun intended) so I always go for the shade! ;)

Paul,

There's a Sean Connery line in Hitchcock movie "Marnie":

"I'm just an interested spectator of the passing parade."

:D

When I was a kid, growing up in San Francisco.....we had a grocery store right next to our school. I used to sneak over there and take a shopping cart home. I had to hide it on the side of our front steps so my parents would not see it.

The following day, my little sister and little brother, and me would pile our back packs and stuff into the cart. My sister & brother would hang onto the sides and I would drive the cart by using my shoes as turning brakes on the back wheels.

We had a 1 mile steep ride to school and I'm sure we got those carts up to 25mph or more - it was a blast.

I also remember my mom screaming at me when she discovered wheel shaped, 1" deep grooves in my brand new school shoes - ouch :(

Later on, when I got a little older (7th & 8th grade), we would take the wheels off the carts and make coasters. I built them for the whole neighborhood. I probably owe something to Park & Shop that funded my childhood habit.

The new carts at "Publix" have a two piece hinged plastic seat. I emptied the cart and closed the door on the hatchback. Reached into my pocket for phone...CRAP!..nothing but moths. Opened up the back, the side doors between the fargin' seats.....nada...cruised the parking lot, the aisles twice.....

Pulled my heard out my rectum and checked the cart again. The baby seat had fallen over and covered the phone......kicking myself as I return the cart.....oh yeah half the lot was closed for a slurry treatment so it was 100+ yards each way.

Still irked.....

The new carts at my favorite grocery store have a phone holder build into the handle. My issue is that they also have cup holders.
There's a certain subset of users, probably the same ones who abandon carts, who will just set their empty iced coffee plastic cup on a store shelf, even though there's several garbage cans distributed throughout the store.