PSA: Look Around Before You Park Your Cart
No, I'm not back. Think I've sussed out the problem, more or less, but I'm still working on what to do about it. More on that later. I did want to pop in, though, to share some wisdom:
If you are shopping someplace with cart corral's/cart returns/whatever you call them in your area, before you do the good, responsible thing and take your cart to a corral to put away (which I know you're going to do, right?), don't just aim for the first one you see unless it's two to five feet away. Unless you are deliberately trying to get in steps, look around and see if you can spot one closer to you.
I've been increasingly aware of people at my workplace expending a lot of unnecessary energy when it comes to returning their cart. The most extreme example I've seen (which honestly might have been someone getting their exercise) was someone who was seriously parked right next to a corral, but who walked about a hundred feet, uphill, to put their cart away.
Like I said, that one was pretty extreme.
Normally it's more a matter of them spotting a corral on the opposite side of the row from them and heading for that without realizing there's one directly across from it on their side of the row and they could have saved ten or fifteen feet of walking. Nothing exactly major, but still! If you're in a hurry at all, or if your feet hurt, you'd probably rather not walk the extra distance.
Sometimes it's pretty clear that people are heading for a corral further away than necessary because they see a cart pusher there and are bringing the cart to us, so as to make our lives easier. That is super sweet and we appreciate the thought, but we're going to come get the cart out of whatever corral you put it in eventually, so while it doesn't hurt, it doesn't really help either. No need to put yourself out unnecessarily. Unless you specifically want to say 'hi' to another human being or something, in which case, go for it! No skin off of our nose either way.
Of course, if I'm in a corral and see someone heading toward me when there's a closer corral, I will point toward it and politely bellow "THAT ONE'S CLOSER!", since they're probably fifteen to twenty feet off. This can cause some confusion, admittedly, but I really don't want people to have to walk further than they have to, so I try to avoid it. So if you're ever in a parking lot and the cart pusher you're heading for is yelling and pointing to a point directly across from them, first check to make sure they aren't telling you some idiot on their cellphone is about to run you over, but then check for a cart corral. Odds are good they're trying to improve your life.
