Why some shopping carts end up in the creek

How do shopping carts end up in the creek? They don't migrate there themselves, but sometimes get some "help" from kids bent on causing some mischief.

Beverly Crandall of Merced has some insight into the situation. She says Rivera Middle School students spot the abandoned carts in the neighborhood and push the carts into the creek because it's a fun thing to do. However, one Saturday several years ago she heard little boys laughing and went out to see what was so funny. Three boys about 10 to 12 years old were pushing shopping carts into Black Rascal Creek.

Ms. Crandall went over to the kids and said, "Now that we see how much fun it is to push them in, let's see how much fun it is to take them out." She was surprised the boys actually took the carts out of the creek. It only took a matter of moments to push them into the briny, but almost an hour to retrieve them. The youths weren't happy with their uphill task, but Crandall stood there until they were done. She surmises she had on her "mean face" on because they didn't argue with her and got the job done.

Shopping carts, by the way, were the 1937 invention of Oklahoma City Piggly-Wiggly supermarket owner Sylvan Goldman. With the help of a store mechanic, the first shopping cart was based on the design of a wooden folding chair, with a metal frame, wheels and wire baskets. It was a stroke of genius. Up to this point, grocery shoppers used hand-held baskets to round up their purchases and quit when the basket got full or heavy. It took a little while for grocery carts to gain customer acceptance (men thought they were effeminate, and women thought they were like the baby carriages they regularly pushed), but it meant folks could buy a lot more than they previously did. Goldman made millions with the invention. Over the years carts were refined with child seats, roller-bearing wheels and features that allowed them to telescope together, thereby saving space. Carts cost anywhere from $100 to $150 and now are made of plastic.

If they could just build carts with features that keep them out of the creeks.