this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2026
380 points (95.5% liked)
Dank Memes
7809 readers
754 users here now
This is the place to be on the interweb when Reddit irreversibly becomes a meme itself and implodes
If you are existing mods from r/dankmemes, you should be mod here too, kindly DM me on either platform
The many rules inherited from
- Be nice, don't be not nice
- No Bigotry or Bullying
- Don't be a dick!
- Censor any and all personal information from posts and comments
- No spam, outside links, or videos.
- No Metabaiting
- No brigading
- Keep it dank!
- Mark NSFW and spoilers appropriately
- NO REEEEEEE-POSTS!
- No shitposting
- Format your meme correctly. No posts where the title is the meme caption!
- No agenda posting!
- Don't be a critic
- Karma threshold? What's that?
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Aldi's is the only chain that I specifically remember seeing those coin locked shopping carts/trolleys at here in the US. I know they are used other places, but it's been years since I was in those parts of the US and don't remember the other store chains that use them.
Almost every single store in SoCal uses shopping carts/trolleys with a "brake" on one of the wheels. If you pass outside of the IR perimeter of the store's designated property (which frequently doesn't include the outside parking spaces of their own parking lot, thereby making them a problem for all their customers,) one of the wheels locks so the cart/trolley is basically unuseable.
Many, but nowhere near most, of the carts/trolleys that don't use such technology of coin based locks, or wheel brakes end up being used by the people experiencing homelessness to cart what few possessions they have left. Most of their stuff has already been stolen by the cops and shoved into garbage trucks, or in the case of their pets, they get taken to the shelter and put down.
This isn't just true of California, but they at least try to not do this heartless crap to everyone, just the most vulnerable of us that can't remember schedules. Other states don't even give schedules. The cops and trash crews show up in the middle of the night, and your tent, all your possessions, probably all your important ID papers that you have, and your pets disappear. You now have to pay to get your pets back. All your property went into a garbage truck, was compacted, and went to the landfill. You don't get that stuff back.
Cruelty is the point in the US, and always has been.
I wonder why that is. I mean that location-based brake must be way more expensive than those simple mechanical coin deposit slots.
If you don't know, the carts are chained together and you can only remove one when you put in €1 or so, and you only get that back when you chain the cart back in - it's not perfect, but good enough. Turns out people are very much willing to walk a few metres to get that back.
My guess is that American stores don't want to inconvenience their customers. The fear of losing even .01% because of introducing a system like that.
I can't really reply to your much appreciated homelessness rant; probably because I have never seen it as bad as it seems to be in at least some places in the USA. My empathy though.
As I said, Aldi's and a few other store chains use the coin and chain lock method of ensuring the carts are returned. I suspect the brake locks are more expensive, but are less of a cultural inerta barrier to break.
When I was a kid in the '80s and '90s, I didn't see either method of ensuring cart return. We just went around the lot and returned all the carts because it was something to do while out mom was in the store. Technically I think we were supposed to stay in the van, but we got bored easily and using the carts as scooters was fun.
uh, people are very, very gross in the united states. i'm just going to leave it at that one of those chains would end up someone's butthole.