Shop-Along III

Today when I walked into Winco, the cart bay didn't have many carts in it, so I had to walk all the way back to grab one. Along the wall, there were these carts that were made of red, hard plastic called the Shop-Along III. The cart looked almost like a flatbed cart--one you would see in a big box store like Costco--but with lips on the edges to prevent your stuff from sliding off, and the top, near the handle, was sort of rounded, presumably for a child, or your purse--it's hard to say.

What was most interesting was the label:



It's designed to carry up to two children, which I understand. I've seen kids in the cart bay nearly clawing each other's eyes out to ride in the cart. The Shop-Along III provides more room than a regular grocery cart so both kids can enjoy shopping. And, I can understand the safety part of it, too. While carts aren't designed to sit on the bottom, near the wheels, like in days of old, riding in the actual cart can be dangerous for little kids--fingers stuck in the wiring, pudding cups burst on pants, and scraped up knuckles from riding beside mommy's 6 pack of beer bottles.

The part that baffles me is or one adult. Come on Grandma! Hop in! Taking your elderly parents to the store? Who needs an electric cart? The only joy I see in this is driving around your friend at the store shopping for Pizza Rolls after a long night of too many margaritas. But I see fights happening. I don't want to steer, you steer!

So as I inspected the Shop-Along III, a man came into the cart bay and said, "Wow. Not many carts in here, huh?" And I said, "No. But I found this." And he walked over and looked at the Shop-Along III with me. I think the notion struck him as a little odd, but it only really sunk in and made him uncomfortable after I offered to push him around.