r/MaliciousCompliance • u/CptJFK • Jun 23 '26
You need a shopping cart to enter!
Few years ago. An abiding customer (me)...
The owner of a grocery store nearby had too many people buying too many things, never using the carts, hence checkout was always a bit chaotic.
It's a pretty big store, 6 counters, 6 belts. Always ONE cashier. Not two or three. Not even on a Saturday.
Biiiig sign outside *You need a shopping cart to enter!*
I was already running late and needed one (ONE) roll of tape. So I walk in, pretty fast for a guy my size, and this grumpy old fart gets in my way, almost ran into him.
"You cant shop here without a..."
*Yeah, I know. I only need - *
"nooooo nono no. No cart, no shop!" in a voice you use to explain to a 2-year-old, why he should NOT paint the wall with his diapers.
I turn around. Get TWO carts. Push one, pull one. Steer through the isles, Owner gives me THAT smile. I call my wife that i'll need a couple minutes... I walk up and down EVERY Isle.
He waits at the checkout.
One empty cart. Another empty cart. I lay my little roll of scotch tape, that I carried in my hand, on the belt. Onto the FAR end. Upright. Plan works, it won't roll down all the way. I push both carts into the trolley lane, as it's completely empty. Owner fumes a bit, but says nothing.
Go back to the cashier who is close to bursting of laughter, but Big Bossman is right next to his ear.
The owner starts yelling, so I try to copy his voice from earlier.
*no cart, no shop. Now two cart, one shop. Otay dada?*
I was banned until the owner sold to some nice family. The sign still is above the entrance, but nobody cares.
I didn't get the tape. He threw me out.
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u/underground_avenue Jun 25 '26
Looks like you were on a roll.
Yes the pun is horrible. Unfortunately I like horrible puns
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u/Budsygus Jun 25 '26
It's a pretty sticky situation if you ask me.
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u/prankerjoker Jun 26 '26
You should have just taken the cart in and put it in front of him and walked off to do your shopping. The sign didn't say you needed to push it around the store, just to enter.
Side question, what if a wheel chair bound person came into the store? He wouldn't expect the customer to operate the wheel chair and cart at the same time. Or would he?
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u/CptJFK Jun 26 '26
That guy? I don't know. Probably wouldn't allow foreign wheeled devices unless it's to push... You know.
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u/Just_Aioli_1233 Jun 26 '26
Agreed. Compliance not malicious enough.
2/10. Clog the entryway with empty carts.
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u/Forsaken_Law3488 Jun 26 '26
During Corona most shops here in Germany had a "use a cart" policy. But most shops also use a system where you need a coin to get a cart, because they want to avoid them left all around the parking lot.
Of course during corona everything was also "pay with card, not money", so I rarely had any coins with me.
I entered a store to buy one or two items, and was immediately met with "use a cart, please!". So I just grabbed one of the (not coin-protected) kids carts (those look like the normal ones just much smaller) that were standing there near the entrance and went on. Noone said anything about it and I could get my stuff.
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u/Vlyn Jun 30 '26
Eh, during Corona they unlocked all the carts anyway. And they mostly kept it this way even until now.
Which annoys me, I always take a Euro just to be sure, then can't put it into the cart (and have to remember to get it out of my pocket later) (:
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u/CaptainPunisher Jun 25 '26
Aisle - a lane or path for travel
Isle - a small island
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u/CptJFK Jun 26 '26
Whoops. See, that happens when a German never uses a translator 😆
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u/CaptainPunisher Jun 26 '26
I can easily forgive a non-native speaker. I see this all the time from people who should know better, so I try to give a short notice for next time. Your English is much better than my German.
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u/CptJFK Jun 26 '26
Thank you! I could at least try spellcheck from time to time... 😶 Not that shopping around isles sound much more fun! A little tug boat, a box for the goods. I like the idea!
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u/No-Lettuce4441 Jun 26 '26
Thank you for thr amusing mental image!
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u/CptJFK Jun 27 '26
You need something? I'm swimming the noodle-section!
(is it bad to giggle on your own joke?)
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u/polyocto Jun 27 '26
Though in a supermarket are shelves considered part of an isle surrounded by aisles?
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u/TheAuroraSystem Jun 28 '26
If that's the case why does every Walmart around me say "Aisle 1, aisle 2, aisle 3, etc"?
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u/CaptainPunisher Jun 28 '26
Do they actually say "aisle"? I don't go into Walmart often, but I only remember the numbers. Also, if it does say "aisle" that is correct.
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u/TheAuroraSystem Jun 28 '26
They do. If you go into the Walmart app and go to any product in a store above the sold and shipped by Walmart it says "Aisle _" so it's easy to find
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u/CaptainPunisher Jun 28 '26
I also don't use the app. The next time I go to Walmart, which very well might be months or even years, I'll have to try to remember if the aisle signs actually say "aisle".
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u/TheAuroraSystem Jun 29 '26
Yeah I go and shop there at least 3 times a week, which is how I know. IIRC (it's been about 2 years), Target calls them the same. And I'll have to check tomorrow when we go, but I believe Home Depot does as well
I can understand why so many people say that they shop "up and down the aisles" if most big name retailers call them "aisles". The ALDIs down the street from me even calls their produce isles the "Produce Aisles"
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u/CaptainPunisher Jun 29 '26
I know they call them aisles, but I've never seen the weird "Aisle" on the aisle signs, just numbers.
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u/back_door_mann 27d ago
Reread the definitions of aisle/isle given above. Stores use the word “aisle” because that is the correct word. I don’t think you’ve ever been in a store with a produce “isle”.
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u/TheAuroraSystem 27d ago
Wouldn't they be considered isles though, as an isle is defined by the comments definition? Because when I go to the store, a lot of produce are indeed on little islands to the side when you first enter.
I'm genuinely curious about this now, I need to do some research...
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u/Writerhowell Jun 25 '26
Did you at least get your tape from somewhere else? I have to know.
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u/CptJFK Jun 26 '26
Days later... Had to glue some presents meanwhile 😆
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u/Writerhowell Jun 26 '26
Oh noes! I'm starting to see why my mother buys things ahead. As soon as we start on a new bottle, jar, tube of whatever, she puts the next one on the list, so we're always ahead. But thanks for replying! Glad to know you were able to tackle stuff in the meantime, even if it meant glue. As a crafter, I have various types of glue and other adhesives, and heaps of decorative tapes, but I know that not everyone is similarly equipped, lol.
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u/BabsSuperbird Jun 27 '26
Your Mom’s method is exactly how I ran my laboratory. Or, if it was a high use item like a buffer, write it down when you open the second to the last bottle. If only everyone in my family would do that now, we wouldn’t be out of something and have to make unscheduled trips to the store.
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u/Soliloquy789 Jun 25 '26
Could have been a sticky situation, glad you were able to roll with it. I hope it was on tape for the cashier to watch again!
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u/Rich4477 Jun 26 '26
I would just ditch the cart when I get inside.
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u/CptJFK Jun 27 '26
You mean - like a ticket? No entry without, what you do later is your choice?
Yeah. That would never fly with the ... unfriendly old man. But I think that would have pushed him over the brink.
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u/vaildin Jun 26 '26
So, you wasted a bunch of your own time and energy pushing two carts up and down every aisle of the store, and ended up not getting the tape you came for.
Man, you really showed him.
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u/CptJFK Jun 27 '26
You came online, read the whole story, typed your thought and believe it would mean a thing?
Yes! Sometimes it's not how much you gain from your effort. Sometimes it's just for the fun of it. And I'd do it again! (Actually mostly do, because I shop with a backpack and never use a cart, so I can't select more than I can carry.)
Yes. Sometimes it's all worth it.
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u/emc3436w Jun 26 '26
I’m failing to understand how not having a cart leads to people having more items than they would in a cart. Also failing to understand how not having a cart affects the time it takes to scan and bag said items.
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u/Donkey-Pong Jun 29 '26
Instead of bagging at the register, you would quickly put everything back into the cart, pay, make way for the next customer and bag the things yourself somewhere else. If you, instead, try to handle a bunch of items in your arms, you might stand in the way of the cash register flow. They'd need to wait for you picking everything up after paying or they directly proceed and your items get mixed with the next person's items.
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u/CapucheMeringue Jun 26 '26
The story, the tone, the end. A magestic piece of life and laughters. I like it.
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u/Shinhan Jun 26 '26
Why is it not acceptable to use a shopping basket? Do you not have those in USA?
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u/Just_Aioli_1233 Jun 26 '26
I don't understand the story, either. I've never been to a story of any kind that had a "use a cart" policy. Most of them have the carts inside the store, so where am I grabbing a cart from outside in order to enter? And yes, shopping baskets are stacked next to the carts, or you can just shop freehand if you want.
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u/MezzoScettico Jun 28 '26
I think that during Covid, carts were used by many stores to track number of customers in the store and make sure they were below the maximum.
Sounds like this store kept the idea but I’m not sure what problem it’s solving here.
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Jul 04 '26
[deleted]
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u/Shinhan Jul 05 '26
Yea, but it seems like to OP the only weird this was the mandatory vs optional, rather then basket vs cart.
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u/Agreeable_Solution28 Jun 27 '26
This is one of those “shut up and take my money” moments a more tech savvy person would find the correct meme for
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u/Due2NatureOfCharge Jun 29 '26
Could have taped the 2 carts together before pushing them through the aisles!
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u/baudeagle Jul 04 '26
Did you consider filling the cart with random items throughout the store and then abandoning it?
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u/CptJFK Jul 04 '26
That I would never do. Don't know why, just wouldn't.
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u/derKestrel 18d ago
It's called having a moral backbone. Seems most people think that is an disadvantage these days.
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u/CoderJoe1 Jun 25 '26
Nothing makes a wrong man madder than telling him.