XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.books   
   From: rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com   
      
   Greg Goss  wrote   
   > J. Clarke  wrote   
      
   >> FWIW, Aldi, which makes a great show of frugality (they rent you   
   >> shopping carts for 25 cents for example to make sure you return   
   >> them to the proper place thus saving them the cost of a cart   
   >> collector) will take debit cards but not credit cards in the US,   
   >> which suggests that debit fees are less than credit fees.   
      
   > Almost all supermarkets require a deposit to unlock their carts.   
      
   None of the 6 in my town do. We don't have an Aldi.   
      
   > I consider the size of that deposit to be an indicator of the   
   > wealth of the community that the supermarket is set into.   
      
   Doesn't work here.   
      
   > Supermarkets in really rich communities still don't need deposits.   
      
   Ours isnt a really rich community and non of the two major supermarket   
   chains in my country have deposits for any of their carts.   
      
   > Medium-rich supermarkets want a quarter to unlock the cart.  Poor   
   > to middle-class supermarkets want (in my country) a dollar coin.   
   > Supermarkets in really poor areas have the carts barricaded to the area   
   > next to the entrance, and you have to bring your vehicle to the cart.   
      
   > The WalMart about six miles from me is in a poorer neighborhood   
   > than where I live.  It has electronic wheel locks that provide a similar   
   > effect to that barricade.  But I was surprised that the wheels lock up   
   > if you take the cart into the rest of the mall instead of to your car.   
      
   > There are two supermarkets close to me and one a little bit further.   
   > One wants a buck, the further one wants a quarter, and the closest one   
   > provides staff with DIFFERENT carts to take groceries to your car,   
   > though they don't stop you from taking the "inside" carts to your car   
   > if there's not a packer handy.  No deposit at all on this one.  The   
   > area between me and the "free" supermarket is upper-middle.  I don't   
   > have a feel for the money class of the area on the other side of the   
   > free one.  The "buck" one and the quarter one are both near   
   > lower-middle class neighborhoods.   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)