An alleged case of shopping cart vigilantism might’ve gone too far
Sacramento resident (and Acura NSX owner) Sancho, who goes by @916_NSX, shared smartphone footage with JackFrootNews showing an altercation at a local Costco he observed between two people over who placed a shopping cart where.
Check out the hot dog throwing contest that went down below. (OP’s video is on his TikTok.)
The altercation took place at the Costco off of East Stockton Blvd in Sacramento (link to map location linked here.)
Sancho starts filming in the middle of their heated argument.
The woman in the blue shirt and presumed owner of a white Honda Accord coupe is seen yelling at a man in a gray and purple shirt.
She’s accusing him of allegedly placing moving a shopping cart directly behind her car before she attempts to back-up.
It’s safe to assume the man observed her not return her cart, electing to leave it in the middle of nowhere (or worse, behind his van) instead of making an honest effort to return it to a designated cart corral.
“F*** you,” she says to the man.
“That was your cart,” he responds.
At that point she throws her hotdog at him.
The Jackfroot caption claims he picked up the thrown hot dog but I don’t think that’s what happened (or is even possible, pickup up pieces of a thrown dog.)
After exchanging a few words and in retaliation, he picks up what looks like a piece of nearby trash and throws it at her.
The man suggests that she call the police on him which she supposedly actually does as we can see a Sacramento PD car drive into frame.
The fact of the matter is there are no laws requiring someone to return a shopping cart.
While it’s polite too, it’s within your right to leave it where it won’t roll off and accidently ding a door or cause a serious accident.
What the man did, while on some level admirable upholding the unwritten rules of shopping carts, is possibly negligent as he actively placed a shopping cart in her car’s path of travel.
If she unknowingly bumped into that cart, sending it flying, the path it takes resulting in an injury (or worse, a death) he could be held liable (hey, just throwing hypotheticals out here.)
What both of them did, throwing stuff at each other, is just plain petty and wrong and are actual chargeable offenses they could file against each other.
Hopefully the police officer got them to see the error of their ways and did some honest-to-goodness community policing where both end up shaking hands, no charges filed.
Friends, if you see shopping cart injustice happening in front of you, it’s not your responsibility to write a wrong, especially placing their cart in front of or behind their car.
You can always tell them, in the most polite way possible, to reconsider returning their cart, but, if you’re a fan of cart narcs, that’s rarely plays out in your (the greater good’s) way as one of their most popular videos shows.
If you’re in the habit of leaving your cart anywhere, that’s the wurst! Consider bringing it back to the nearest shopping cart corral instead.
