This time there was no battery-powered grocery cart available during our midday, weekly grocery shopping trip. I’m awaiting knee replacement surgery and need help.
After walking behind a regular grocery buggy into the Walmart at Greer, SC, my wife, Barbara, left me sitting in an odd cart — one turned backwards and made for pushing someone weighing up to 250 pounds. Barbara could push me in that cart, but the front wire cage will not hold all our groceries.
So, I waited as Barbara strolled off with our food list and a regular buggy. I hoped someone soon would park an electric grocery cart, and I could hobble to it, sit down, and zoom at 2-miles-per-hour to catch up with Barbara.
I waited … and waited.
Barbara returned after 35 minutes with her shopping done.
“No one left an electric cart,” I said. “They are all in use, I guess.”
She pushed her buggy to the self-checkout area and, item-by-item, did her duty.
I waited, sitting in the odd cart. A heavyset lady, using a cane, walked into the store and headed my way.
“No electric carts are available,” I said. “I’ve been waiting here over 30 minutes.”
The lady rolled her eyes.
“Sometimes the carts quit working,” she said. “One day, I went to the superstore to get groceries. I was on a cart in the middle of the store and had it full of groceries when the battery, or something, quit working. I waited for an employee to come by so I could ask for help, but none came. After a while, I had to get up, use my cane, and walk out of the store. I left it all just sitting there.”
I wondered what happened to those groceries. How long did it take for an employee to notice a cart sitting, filled with groceries — some were probably frozen things? Were items returned to freezers before they were ruined?
“My goodness!” I said.
My wife returned, and I grabbed hold of her filled buggy. I spoke to a Walmart employee near the front of the store.
“I was sitting in here, waiting for an electric cart for over 30 minutes, and no cart was returned to the front,” I said. “How many carts does the store have?”
“We have four electric carts, but two are not working,” she said, seeming disgruntled.
I said to the lady who was still waiting, hoping for a battery-operated cart to appear, “Well, maybe you’ll get one, soon.”
She rolled her eyes.
As we exited, I saw a large woman driving a cart back to the store.
“There’s a lady, inside the store, waiting for that cart,” I said.
She smiled and hurried on.
I have anxiety about finding a battery-powered grocery cart when we make our weekly grocery trip. Store managers are up to their necks in challenges, but there is a need for more battery-powered grocery carts. The population is aging. Older shoppers need help.
