A Mom Is Trying To Explain Why She Doesn’t Return Her Shopping Cart And It’s Not Going Well
No one is putting up with her reasoning.
Whenever I see an abandoned shopping cart in a parking lot, I wonder: Who could have possibly not had an extra minute to walk their cart to return it? Who thought it was OK to leave work for others (and leave a hazard in a busy area)? Do these people walk among us every day?
Well, now we kind of know. Because one mom on TikTok, @drlesliedobson, confessed to the act.
“I’m not returning my shopping cart,” she states simply. “And you can judge me all you want.”
What’s her reasoning? Safety.
“I’m getting my groceries into the car and then getting my children in the car and then leaving them in the car to go return my cart,” she explains. “So if you’re going to give me a dirty look, f*ck off.”
The video has been viewed 12 million times and viewers have left over 100,000 comments — and not many of them are in agreement. Because let’s face it: Most parents figure out a way to return their shopping carts 100% of the time without their kids getting kidnapped... or whatever it is people think might happen.
And look: I know that judging other parents and other types of parenting is generally bad, but... what if your actions are affecting others in negative ways? And making our world a worse place to hang out?
The comments were not kind. Some were funny and sarcastic, but very few were in agreement.
“If you can get the cart, you can return the cart. Look up the shopping cart theory,” one person wrote.
“It’s pretty easy get groceries in the car have kids help, then have a fun time showing your kids how to return a cart and be a good person, then put kids in car lol,” another wrote.
“Small things like this is what shows character in a person. I am not a parent but even if it’s raining or snowing I return my cart,” another wrote.
Many people explained that returning a cart is exactly as easy as getting a cart — just do the steps backward.
“Mom of a 6yo, 3yo and 9months. I simply unload groceries, return cart WITH kids, and then load them in. Same way that we got out of car. Simple,” one mom explains.
The original poster responded to several posts with the same explanation.
“I want women to feel empowered to trust their intuition if they feel unsafe, and ignore judgment. Risk isn’t worth it and our lives are precious. I have seen lives destroyed. I hope you never don’t,” she wrote.
Seems dramatic, but OK.
A few days later, she posted a follow-up video doubling down on why she does what she does — though... people are still not buying it.
She explained that she can’t return her shopping cart because children are abducted and assaulted in parking lots — and lists a few statistics about how many crimes take place in parking lots. It’s not clear how many of these crimes take place during the day in grocery store parking lots.
She also claims that it takes 12 minutes to return some carts. Where is she shopping??
The problem is, even if you are concerned with the dangers of parking lots, you can still just bring your kids with you to return the damn cart.
“Somehow all of us other moms manage to return the cart,” one person said.
And as one commenter put it so succinctly, “Bro just return your cart.”
Agree.
