There’s some dangerous grocery carts out there. Who knew?
I learned this earlier this week when I tried to roll a grocery cart from a Winco to a parking lot outside of the store’s boundaries. The Winconians have fitted carts with little sensors that jam on the brakes once you roll over a barrier. This technology isn’t new, but they’ve perfected it. Trust me.
I understand why this is an issue for urban stores, where grocery carts are put to use by countless homeless people. But this was in the ‘burbs. If you push a cart up a residential street here, you would be in a psychiatric lockup by sundown. We’ve got a no-tolerance policy for anything too odd.
But, back to Winco.
That cart screeched to a halt like Road Runner in a cartoon. I have the bruised rib to prove it.
Once I got the groceries out of the stalled cart and into my car (An ugly and involved process), I went into the store to get the lowdown. “Really? The carts just stop?” was the reaction of the first store employee I approached. She suggested I try another cart to see if the same thing happened. I decided to pass on that fun and came right home to research this phenom.
Photo from Inhabit.com
The theft of carts costs millions a year. People use them to wheel around their belongings of course, but apparently they also use them for barbecue pits and furniture.
I know you will join me in my relief at knowing that there is an acronym involved. In this case, “CAPS” which stands for “cart anti-theft protection system.” Usually this works the way my cart did: Try to roll out of bounds and WHAM! Brakes are on.
The technical explanation: The carts have special boots with transmitters that emit a very, very quiet call for help when they are out of their comfort zone. A cart cannot cry for help and roll at the same time.
(This is a variation of what my mother, of blessed memory, used to call “not able to shit or go blind,” which is crude version of “can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.”)
Here’s the thing that really tells you these people mean business: Once the cart has sent the danger yelp out to the electronic home base, it’s all over. The cart cannot go into reverse either. It can only turn in circles, and if that isn’t a metaphor for a life of crime, well, I don’t know what is. A handheld unlocking device is used to start ‘er up again.
This being America and all, there is a lobby against these carts, which apparently have been known to tip over without warning.
Just for laughs, I called a couple of stores and asked how they prevent cart theft. The answers:
1 – We have tall sticks attached to the side of the cart and it won’t go through the average house door or into a vehicle. (Do people really put these things in a car? I can barely get drycleaning into the backseat.)
2 – We have cement posts outside the store walkway that are a little narrower than the carts. (That “little narrower” part seems mean. You just know that people take a run at those and get humiliated. )
3 – We hunt the thieves down and beat them. (Obviously that was not Whole Foods.)
One of the managers asked why I was asking. When I explained about my near-whiplash experience, she said she had to go and hung up.
No worries, honey — the Winco people are holding the bag on this one.
–Kimberly Marlowe Hartnett
