Time for Another "Is It Peeve-worthy?": Abandoned Shopping Carts

With all that's going on in the world today, I have to wonder about some of the things that bug me to the point of being a "pet peeve".  But I have to admit I am totally annoyed, disheartened, dismayed, distressed, and irritated at the number of abandoned shopping carts I see on my morning walk every day.  Some days I count as many as ten.  They are from CVS, Trader Joe's, Ralphs, Vons, all of which are within walking distance.  What really ferments my grapes is when the carts are from the 99 Cent Store, Target, Stater Bros and Big Lots.  Those stores are not within walking distance.  In fact, some are two or three miles away.  Egads.

Before you tell me I should report them to the Abandoned Cart Hotline, I must tell you, I have many times in the past.  Eventually they are picked up.  But I have to wonder about the cost of doing so and the damage, some, like to the one pictured below, to repair.  Again, egads!

​I don't have a solution.  I do know some folks have no other way to transport their purchased goods home.  Others unfortunate souls carry their remaining personal belongings in them as they search for shelter.  It is a sad, sad situation.  

Perhaps the answer is to have "cart corrals" stationed at various places in every neighborhood.  You know, like the ones they have in most store parking lots.  Would people use them?  Some would.  But, if you have visited any parking lot recently, you will see the poor carts shoved up on the curb or wedged between other carts in an empty parking slot or on the sidewalk...wherever and whenever they are no longer of use to the user.

Sigh.  I know it is a first world problem.  I know to expend energy nurturing this as a peeve, pet or not, it a total waste of time.  Yet, I have to wonder what, if anything can be done?  I think Target still has those wheels that lock up beyond certain point in their parking lot.  I tend to park on the edge of the parking lot to avoid the congestion and competition for closer parking spots.  I tell myself the exercise is good for me, and it is.  But I have had the wheels lock up before I reach my car.  Now are these things "peeve-worthy"?   Perhaps.  But like the poor abandoned shopping carts, my peevishness may just be misplaced or over-wrought.  Still, all-in-all, it is a small burr under my saddle and for that reason, I declare it peeve-worthy.

Nathan Arizona , photographer
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Abandoned Walmart Shopping Cart
Located in the old sheep tunnel that runs under Cedar City, Utah. This tunnel is still used by sheep herders and ranchers that run their herds through the passage to bypass the town. Length of tunnel is about two-thirds of a mile.