XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.books   
   From: YourName@YourISP.com   
      
   In article , Robert Bannister   
    wrote:   
   > On 28/08/13 3:47 AM, John F. Eldredge wrote:   
   > > On Mon, 19 Aug 2013 11:33:01 +0800, Robert Bannister wrote:   
   > >> On 19/08/13 2:33 AM, The Horny Goat wrote:   
   > >>> On Sat, 17 Aug 2013 16:48:32 -0600, Greg Goss  wrote:   
   > >>>> wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) wrote:   
   > >>>>>> Almost all supermarkets require a deposit to unlock their carts.   
   > >>>>>   
   > >>>>> Are you talking about the United States?  Because if you are, I have   
   > >>>>> to at this point say "???????"   
   > >>>>   
   > >>>> I'm in Canada.  I've seen the barricade version in DC, but haven't   
   > >>>> done much shopping in the States.  Our Safeway was the first I noticed   
   > >>>> to go to coin-unlock carts and that's US-owned (or was until a few   
   > >>>> weeks ago), so I thought that the idea came from the States.   
   > >>>   
   > >>> The Overwaitea / PriceSmart / Save-on-Foods chain does this as well.   
   > >>>   
   > >>> In my previous posting I probably came across as extremely annoyed   
   > >>> about "homeless" people stealing carts - a lot of this comes from a   
   > >>> recent experience where when I was in a McDonalds drive thru one of   
   > >>> these guys had a stolen cart and was going through the McDonalds bin   
   > >>> for stuff he could get a deposit on. It was a slight downgrade and the   
   > >>> cart starting rolling directly towards the drive-through line and was   
   > >>> going to nail the car door of the car ahead of me until another person   
   > >>> grabbed the cart. Point is that kind of damage TYPICALLY would cost   
   > >>> $500+ to repair at the auto body shop and this twit made no attempt to   
   > >>> retrieve "his" cart before it damaged the car.   
   > >>>   
   > >>> If scumbags like this feel entitled to be the cause of damage to   
   > >>> other's property (which is exactly what making no effort to stop the   
   > >>> rolling cart) why should they deserve my respect?   
   > >>   
   > >> It doesn't require a scumbag. Quite ordinary shoppers and, in   
   > >> particular, their children will allow shopping trolleys to roll away.   
   > >> Mostly they don't even bother to watch the crash. I expect a new scratch   
   > >> or dent every time I go shopping.   
   > >   
   > > I have often wished that shopping carts had parking brakes.  If the   
   > > parking lot has much of a slope to it, you end up having to place the   
   > > cart on the uphill side of the car to keep it from rolling away, even if   
   > > the car door you wanted to place the merchandise into was on the downhill   
   > > side of the car.   
   >   
   > In those stores that have steeply sloping travellators, the trolleys do   
   > have brakes that come on automatically on a slope.   
      
   I was going to say that yesterday. They usually work via a simple gravity   
   system, so will also work out in the carpark if the trolley is facing the   
   appropriate direction.   
      
   I have seen supermarket-style trolleys with a proper brake similar to   
   those on baby prams / strollers / carriages, but it's probably one of the   
   parts that breaks quickly and they are no doubtmore expensive, so they   
   aren't very common in busy places like supermarkets where the replacement   
   turn-over is fairly quick.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)