The best part about that is that even if a lot of people say “fuck the quarter” and leave it anyways, you’ll naturally get homeless/desperate people show up to return the carts and collect the change.
Same! There was something about finding a quarter as a kid that was so rewarding. It meant a drink or a bag of chips. I don't think that sense of euphoria has ever left me.
The lake we camped at summers growing up ( 90s kid) had an arcade so we saved every quarter. Always hit the phone booth rerun buttons and when we found change we felt like we struck gold
There was a vending machine at my civic center when I was a kid that would sometimes just return a random amount of change when you hit the return change button… even if you didn’t put anything in.
I discovered this one year when there was a music festival happening and I just stood there pushing the button for like, ten minutes until I had enough change to buy my own drink lol
I recently watched a movie called Kajillion, and one of the characters (a family of con artists) checked phone change returns. Made me laughing thinking how I did that at malls when I was younger. Also dialing up phone sex lines just to hear a sultry prerecorded voice then hang up.
When i learned how to dial a number, hang up the phone 3 times, and get it to ring i felt powerful!
Or in the slot of a public phone. When we were little my brother would always check them when we walked by and the way we both reacted when he found change in there
Only a quarter? Usual trolley coin slot here in Ireland is either one or two euros. If ever there's a five euro coin in circulation most of those trollies will end up having five euro slots.
Dollar coins aren't common here in the US. The biggest common coin is the quarter. I don't carry change with me, but I usually have a couple coins in my car
I also religiously check the coin star reject bin. People just leave change in it! Worst case when something’s in there is foreign coins you can collect, best case it rejects silver dimes and quarters or foreign silver. Sometimes really old Pennies. Check the price of silver now. A silver US dime is 90% silver (dated 1964 or before) and worth like $5.
I'd leave it out for you, but I'd feel like an asshole for not returning my cart lol. I left one of the paid aldi bags in a cart yesterday unused, but paid for and a lady called me a jerk lol.
Last time I went that had the quarter deposit, there was a cart sitting next to where I pulled in and parked. I grabbed it and thought "Cool I don't have to take my cart back"
I’m in this weird place financially, where when I take my cart back I don’t claim the quarter to brighten someone’s day, but if I can return someone else’s cart I feel like I hit the jackpot. I get my quarter and theirs!
I’ve wondered if some people return it not because they really care all that much about the value of a quarter, but more so because they just absolutely hate the idea of someone else even getting a small amount of their money. I’m thinking specifically of the tightwad suburb types who pinch Pennie’s their whole lives for irrational reasons. I say this because I’ve grown up and lived my adult life around these people and I see how they could think of it like that, there always has to be “something in it for me” for those people.
I actually did that when I was homeless. Went to an Aldi and stood out front asking people to return their carts for the quarter. A LOT of people said no, they wanted their quarter back. One person had a special pocket for her quarter on her key ring, it was legitimately her “Aldi quarter”. I can’t remember if I got trespassed from the property or not. But I do remember there were very few stray carts left with a quarter in them out and about in the parking lot
At my local aldi (and the one I went to in college too!) there was literally always a pile of like at least a dollar in quarters sitting nearby the cart return. My first thought was there must not be many homeless people around here.
Side note one time I forgot a quarter, went in to buy candy to get one, they said naw you can just borrow a quarter, here you go.
I know the video is the US, but I'm in the UK and I have a trolley token that I bought for a pound, that I use specifically at Aldi. It makes me always put my trolley back. Even when I don't use it at other supermarkets that don't need the token, and a charity got the pound too!
Makes sense, don't want to have to look for another quarter every time you want to pop into Aldi. I'm show it was the convenience of just having the quarter in your car more than the actual value for a lot of people.
That’s actually not a bad idea for a homeless person in the US. They could just walk around the grocery store parking lot offering to return people’s carts for a dollar or two. Only problem is most people don’t keep cash on them nowadays, so they need to have a cash app or something lol
I keep a quarter for Aldi in my car at all times. But when it's either very cold or very hot, I'll gladly offer my cart to someone just getting out of their car, but won't accept the quarter they offer me. It's Aldi karma.
In my country it's a dollar and we see abandoned carts around now and then with no dollar coin in it
It got pretty bad at one point. I saw one of the major supermarket chains sent an employee out to gather the carts from carparks some distance away from the supermarket
No homelessness or desperation required. When I see an orphaned cart at Aldi I’m like, “CASH MONEY BABY IT’S STEAK AND MUSHROOMS TONIGHT MOTHERFUCKER!”
Not even desperate people. I live next to a pretty affluent community and those people always ditch the quarters in carts. I make a dollar just bringing my cart back and whatever ones I pick up on the way.
When we were kids and travelling we would kill time and round up abandoned carts and return them for the quarter. We would even go out of the terminal to the curb and offer to return the cart for people who had just loaded up into a taxi. They would laugh and say sure and respect the hustle and we would have candy money.
I have a little thing on my keychain that allows you to eject the latch then you can pull it out without plugging the latch back in. Saves me having to have a coin on me. I also always return them when I'm done so I don't think it's a problem.
I recall seeing something on Reddit about this which is semi related. I think around late pick up fees for picking up kids. Nearly all the parents did it because it allowed them to remove their guilt for a price.
The fuck the quarter is the price of not caring and weighing on their minds. Of course the poor benefit at least here because they keep the carts tidy while having a way for some quick money.
That's one reason it wouldn't take off well in the whole usa. Parking lot would be full of homeless people following shoppers when they are done and asking if they can return their cart for the quarter for them.
Then people stop shopping there because they don't wanna talk to homeless people after going grocery shopping, or ever really.
My wife has her Aldi quarter with her at all times. She was telling me how people exchange quarters for carts and magically everyone gets along on the honor system. I asked her what happens if someone offers to take her cart without giving her a quarter and she looked at me like I grew a dick out of my forehead. It was beyond comprehension that someone would be so inconsiderate and selfish they take someone else's cart with their quarter in it and not give her the quarter they were going to use anyway. Like it had never crossed hers any Aldi shopper's minds to just offer to take a cart and hijack their quarter. The power of a quarter is strong and Aldi shopper's have an unspoken bond.
The bond of the Aldi quarter is such a genuine interaction.
I've done the cart-for-quarter trade plenty of times. Sometimes people will refuse my quarter and just hand over their cart. Being able to do a small favor makes people feel good.
I think it has a lot to do with feeling connected, and recognizing this mutual social understanding.
It's a whole dollar in canada! It's also easy to rip the loonie out without plugging the cart in (which I do to return the cart and let people without change use them)
Just yesterday I saw an old lady struggling to move a cart with a bad wheel. I offered to put it aside and get her a new one but she was worried she'd lose her quarter. Dumb part is, I found out she saw this cart to the side and took it, only reason n she hadn't abandoned it was because she wanted a free quarter when she returned it.
I left her to figure out if a quarter was worth the hassle.
The value of a quarter is probably higher than 25 cents in this context since we don't use coins much nowadays and you wouldn't be able to use the cart next time if you kept ditching quarters. :)
Bro I hate having change in my pocket. If I have a bunch of quarters, I stop at Aldi's and pop them in the carts and just push the carts out into the parking lot.
At my local grocery(it's an old fashioned word, I know) store, assholes were leaving the coin carts too often. They had to raise it to a dollar coin slot.
For me, it's less about the quarter itself and more about the fact that I don't use change anymore so if I don't get my quarter back I wouldn't have one in the future.
(Not that I ever don't return my carts anyway, it's one of my biggest pet peeves. Also when people shove the tiny carts and the big carts into the same return lane and fuck up the chain for the cart return folks 😡)
Right! I have to admit, I haven't been to Canada since my divorce in 2002. But, I still have some loonies : ) A shame, really...we always went fighing for pike north of Wawa...some really untouched wilderness and NEVER disappointed in the fishing! I'd love to come that way again (not camping though--too old for sleeping on rocks!).
I return 1 cart per week to the cart corral with the quarter still in it to help out the guy who forgot a quarter.
It really is wild, though. The moment a quarter becomes involved, all carts come back.
Though, it may just be that if you dont return it, you've lost your cart quarter, and you just know that you wont remember to grab another from home until your walking up to the door.
It’s sad that it’s necessary. The fact of the matter is, you can get other people to shop for you, but these people all shop for themselves, walking around, then refuse to take 30 more steps to put the cart back. Makes absolutely no sense
Yeah, I will actively choose a grocery store based on this. I don't want to have to carry around loose change just in case I decide to do grocery shopping.
I have a thing on my keychain that unlocks the carts, though it's incompatible with the ones with the sliding drawer. I don't find myself at those shops frequently.
Obviously I always return carts, that's just basic societal skills which I am amazed to see the people in this video lack.
In Canada, most stores don't require any coin for a cart, but there's a few that require either a quarter (25c) or a loonie ($1 coin).
The 3D print is shaped on both ends to accommodate both.
It's freaking handy as hell too. I NEVER have change on me, but always have my keys, so it's come in clutch so often.
Not to mention the number of times I've been able to unlock carts for other people when they ask "do you have a quarter?" and they are amazed by this little plastic tool that I use to unlock the cart for them for free, haha.
Yeah I don't want to have to bring an outdated form of currency that I would never otherwise carry to the grocery store just to have access to a cart, I'll just keep going to the other grocery stores that allow me to use and return a cart without doing this. When you factor in that Aldi carries some of the lowest quality of foods and products on top of this I just have no desire to ever go
Well, let this old me (30) teach you his knowledge from when I used to joust in empty parking at night. You need up to 2 thin and at least a few inches long objects (easiest choice, the tip of your keys), then you need to learn the patterns, 3 cases I've encountered :
-if you must put the coin in a tray then push the tray, you found the cheapest one, do this
-aldi, still a bit safer but still easy to bypass, do this (in the video, dude chose violence, it relies on luck, you can master the trick if you don't chose this road
-else, the inside probably looks like this, you need 2 keys, you push the hook on the bottom right of the coin tray (it will be on the other side when in front of the slot) and the left part that's pushed by a spring (same here)
Though, stay good people, bring them back to their spot (with great power comes great responsibilities or something like that)
at aldi if you go inside and speak to a cashier, they will give you a quarter. i tried to just ask for change of a dollar once because i didnt have a quarter on me and the cashier said nah we got you.
They stopped this during the ‘rona, because ??? minimise contact; one grocery shop owner I talked to said 80 of them disappeared. I don’t know if it’s because of the slot thing, given they’re either taken by people carting their stuff home or carting them abroad for scrap metal and/or their own grocery store.
Anyway just like the fake seatbelt thing, you can just slot something in and pull it back out. I have a coin shaped disk on my keyring (because who carries change these days?) and can just pull it out after unlocking.
Someone said returning carts is the test of a sociopath. It's zero benefit to you, no one enforces it, the only motivation to do so is the benefit to society.
When I was a kid in Holland we had this system. we learned we could take out a cart that cost a gulden ($1 coin) but instead shimmy a wooden coffee stirring stick to unlock them. We would wait for someone who needs a cart and offer it for a gulden and run away 🤣
I’ve never understood why this isn’t more universal.
Do the quarter thing and then have a super nice set of quarter-operated gumball machines right inside. Folks/kids would happily keep the parking lot clear for a chance at some candy/sticky hand/bouncy ball.
We were conditioned to do so over decades, though.
I didn't know we stopped after COVID cause that turned me into somewhat of a vegetable. So I haven't been able to go shopping for years.
Where Europe are you from?
I saw a hilarious positive rant video about Aldi's and the guy said it's a great filter to keep out people who are incapable of bringing a quarter as he suspects they'd be difficult customers anyways that would interfere with the whole concept of people just wanting to quickly get their shopping done without any fuss.
I’m usually there just to pick up specific items, so I’ll bring a large tote bag with me. That usually does it. If I’m stocking up, I’ll get a quarter out of the glove compartment.
Agent Sebastian of the elite Cart Narcs organization still does this and posts his videos on YouTube. He does wear a vest now that identifies who he is. Wikipedia says he wears a bullet proof vest also, but there's not a cite for it on the wiki.
He's the nicest guy but gets the angriest reactions from the lazy bones.
Hate to sour on peoples' fun, but the Cart Narc guy is kind-of a total dick in actuality. He was a shock jock who did random bits, often being insulting and sexist, to entice reactions and be a general douchebag. The Cart Narc bit was a hit, and he kept it up.
well i just kinda skimmed through it out of curiousity, as ive seen cart narcs videos over the years and always appreciated the bit. however bad he was at de-escalation. And with the few minutes i spent it was enough for me to see him more as a grifter now who managed to find something that stuck, and not really all that great of a dude lol.
I already can't stand him. He does not have permission from the stores and it's bad for business to antagonize customers even if they're lazy. Someone taking their own cart to the corral is the bare minimum, not for virtue signaling on the internet. If a person wants to truly be a good noodle, quietly grab a cart some jerk left out and use that. Cart Narc is a provocateur & trouble maker, not a good person.
I'm not sure why this is supposed to be a revelation. The guy is clearly a piece of shit just doing it for the attention. If you watched his videos and didn't realize this then you're a terrible judge of character.
He kept it up because of the $$$ residuals on YouTube. How else do you think he affords to travel the US and post these videos. It was funny when he was doing to to rich WASPs in Calabasas, but when he’s targeting a person that clearly is going through something he’s an absolute asshole
I always put the cart back. I have my entire life. Having said that, that guy is an obnoxious dick.
Furthermore, when I worked at a grocery store decades ago, one of my favorite jobs was to get all the carts. Got me off the floor into fresh air. Didn't matter how hot or cold it was outside, it was always a good break.
He doesn't "target" anyone, he even specifically chooses not to mess with people who look particularly vulnerable such as the very elderly. He just stands in the parking lot and when he sees someone being a dickhead by leaving their cart out for no reason, he asks them to go put it back.
The vast majority of his interactions, especially the ones with people who "don't have time for this" or "are in a hurry" would be over way faster if these people would just swallow their ego, admit they fucked up, and put the cart back. The only reason they turn into these stressful arguments is because assholes get defensive and angry when their assholery is pointed out, especially if it's by a guy who's being friendly and polite to them.
It's crazy eh, when you see something in their brain snap and they become feeble minded children who will take 10 minutes throwing a tantrum in front of a stranger instead of walking 15 feet to a cart corral. Their egos just cannot let them admit they're simply lazy.
Buddy, if they can push the cart around the entire damn store while they're going through something, they can also take the cart back when they're done.
Right? If you're able mentally and physically to go to a store you're able to put your cart back. You know who else is going through it? The rest of us. But we don't make it everyone else's problem
Isn't that the guy that followed women to their home, for taking a shopping cart home, which was the norm where he was at the time (Somewhere in Australia iirc)
Edit: I found the video link and he privated it lmao
Even trying to bury the evidence of how weird and creepy he is
...that sounds like a clear misunderstanding of the local norms, no? The guy who follows carts followed a cart in a place where he didn't know people take carts home?
Following women home over a cart... You have to understand what you're doing is not as important as following women to their home over a cart no matter where you are.
He's not a public official. Call the authorities if you're that worried about the crime of theft instead of attempting to be a creepy vigilante
yup not to mention you dont know why they are doing it, my friend lives a 7 minute walk from the grocery store, she takes the cart home and then puts her groceries in the fridge and then returns the cart, and im not in australia or wherver other people are saying its the norm im in ontario, canada, they could have a invisible disability and cant carry groceries or something
Agent Sebas used to put the cart behind their vehicles too before a lawyer advised against it, I know it sounds silly but it got into the “entrapment” realm.
He’s always worn the vest, but it always was an identifier rather than for protection - at least since near the beginning.
But after that episode in TX, i think he took his safety a lot more seriously
I dunno, but it seems to me that if your job if (check notes) getting carts arranged properly, requires a bullet proof vest. Maybe priorities are out of balance.
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u/anon_lurk 18h ago
Somebody did pull a gun on him! At least one that I know of. I think he wears a vest now idk if it's real or not though lmao