[rlmorel]

I always return the cart to the storage area. Always.

If there is one loose in the parking lot nearby, I often grab that one and return it too.

If it is a bunch, I don’t. I figure that is a flaw in the management of the store, and they need to fix it themselves, but I always do the one-offs.

I work at a hospital, and I do that with orphaned wheel chairs too, sitting in the parking lot. Same dynamic. If it is one, I grab it. More, they need to know they aren’t doing something right.

[Armscor38]

“I always return the cart to the storage area. Always.

If there is one loose in the parking lot nearby, I often grab that one and return it too.”

Same with me.

[Larry Lucido]

“I work at a hospital, and I do that with orphaned wheel chairs too, sitting in the parking lot. Same dynamic. If it is one, I grab it. More, they need to know they aren’t doing something right.”

Wait, you mean those aren’t just abandoned? I’ve been collecting those and reselling them for years!

[Noumenon]

My wife is handicapped, and a shopping cart left in the path between the parking slots is a great help. When we shop together, I always leave a cart there. Otherwise, it goes into a nearby corral.

[SamAdams76]

I always return shopping carts, either to the store itself or to the cart corrals that the larger stores have, like grocery stores.

Another reason for doing this is to protect property of other people. Sometimes a gust of wind will send an abandoned cart across the parking lot to slam into somebody's parked car. Or even a moving car.