Grocery Carts
Ah yes, grocery carts. Who among us has not dealt with these? Unless you are part of that extremely rare breed who has never set foot in a grocery store, you know what I’m talking about. Those oh so marvelous rolling contraptions that you encounter the minute you set foot in any supermarket.
The whole procedure never changes. You grab a cart at the end of a long row of carts all jammed into one another. Then you begin your attempt to yank it free - pulling, rattling, wrenching; all of which creates an enormous amount of racket. If you don’t have at least some semblance of upper body strength, you don’t stand a chance. You could dislocate your shoulder. If you fail in your first attempt, you move on to the next row of carts and start the whole process all over again. If you’re really lucky, a store employee might provide some assistance, but you can’t count on it. If that second attempt fails, you may be forced to return to the parking lot to try and find a lone cart that some lazy person has left behind. Don’t count on that either.
In any case, it’s not easy to get a cart in the first place, and once you do you better hope that you get one with wheels that are all in agreement as to which direction they want to go. If you happen to find yourself pushing a cart with a bad wheel, just STOP. Leave it where it is and get another one - whatever it takes. Do not, I repeat, do not attempt to complete your shopping with that cart.
I did this once. I was in a big hurry and thought I could quickly get through the store using a cart with one of those wandering wheels. If any of you have ever tried that, you know where this is headed. By the time I realized my mistake, it was too late. My cart was half-full. I had to keep going. I ended up shoving and jerking that thing all the way through the remaining aisles and eventually out to the parking lot. It was embarrassing.
With all of the incredible technology out there, I can’t understand why we still have these issues. So to all of you grocery cart manufacturers, let’s get these problems fixed. Please! It’s urgent. I just don’t know how much longer we can go on like this.