Pet Peeves: Aka Things That Make You Go "Gah!"

[EtheltoTillie]

5 hours ago, Bastet said:

I guess it helps not to be on social media, as I haven't heard anyone talking about freezer pops.  I had to look them up to see what they are -- ah, yes, Otter Pops.  I remember those being a thing in my '70s childhood, but I don't think I ever had one (or, if I did, I quickly decided I didn't want another one).  I have no inclination to try one now. 

I can take or leave a Dove bar, but if there's a chipwich in the freezer, that's MINE. (I will leave you all the creamsicles, though; not a fan.)

There is only Haagen Dazs coffee ice cream.  That is all.

[EtheltoTillie]

That brand from Maine (I think) that @Mondrianyone once mentioned is a good second.  They serve it at an ice-cream parlor I go to on Long Island.  Baskin-Robbins Jamoca Almond Fudge was a childhood fave, and I still like it. 

Edited June 17 by EtheltoTillie

[Mondrianyone]

You mean Giffords? It's very good. They used to make coffee fudge, and that was to die for, but they discontinued it. So now I have to doctor plain coffee with chocolate syrup. Not as good, but it suffices.

You're a lawyer @EtheltoTillie. Do I have standing to sue?

[oliviabenson]

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/brownie-crisp-coffee-ice-cream-sandwiches-058761
 

 

I don’t buy them anymore. It’s like 2 servings.

[EtheltoTillie]

12 hours ago, Mondrianyone said:

You mean Giffords? It's very good. They used to make coffee fudge, and that was to die for, but they discontinued it. So now I have to doctor plain coffee with chocolate syrup. Not as good, but it suffices.

You're a lawyer @EtheltoTillie. Do I have standing to sue?

Yes, I couldn’t remember the name. I recall now your peeve about the lost flavor. I’d say you have standing to sue. You are personally aggrieved. Are you making reference to last week’s Supreme Court case? 

10 hours ago, oliviabenson said:

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/brownie-crisp-coffee-ice-cream-sandwiches-058761
 

 

I don’t buy them anymore. It’s like 2 servings.

Hmm sounds like it could be worth a try. But I never go to Trader Joe’s 

[Mondrianyone]

39 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Yes, I couldn’t remember the name. I recall now your peeve about the lost flavor. I’d say you have standing to sue. You are personally aggrieved. Are you making reference to last week’s Supreme Court case?

Only as covertly as possible.  🤐

[oliviabenson]

For me it’s broooo. Or is it bruhhh. Makes me twitch! It’s worse than like!

[Browncoat]

19 hours ago, isalicat said:

and other ones from "PayPal" with stuff about my account closing..

I get those, and I don't even have a PayPal account!

[oliviabenson]

5 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Yes, I couldn’t remember the name. I recall now your peeve about the lost flavor. I’d say you have standing to sue. You are personally aggrieved. Are you making reference to last week’s Supreme Court case? 

Hmm sounds like it could be worth a try. But I never go to Trader Joe’s 

They have good snacks. Maybe go once, but don’t go in the evenings: too crowded. I’d go in the am.

[TattleTeeny]

I don’t know if any of you have Optimum as your cable provider, but if so, you know that they generally suck for many reasons. But one is the monthly test for…whatever they test for. Anyway, it just pops up, usually close to one a.m., and goes on for what seems like 15 minutes. So, if you’re actually watching something, too bad for you. And I guess if you fall asleep with the TV on, well, you are about to be startled to hell in the middle of the night!

[EtheltoTillie]

6 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

I don’t know if any of you have Optimum as your cable provider, but if so, you know that they generally suck for many reasons. But one is the monthly test for…whatever they test for. Anyway, it just pops up, usually close to one a.m., and goes on for what seems like 15 minutes. So, if you’re actually watching something, too bad for you. And I guess if you fall asleep with the TV on, well, you are about to be startled to hell in the middle of the night!

We get those tests from Spectrum, and they are more often than once a month. 

[TattleTeeny]

It's so annoying! And why so long? I am one of those people who doesn't always sleep well/that much, and I like to have a TV on. When it happens, it feels interminable. And we can't change the channel either (not that that would help, I assume).

[EtheltoTillie]

We can pause live tv with the dvr. So if they start the test I pause the program. When it restarts you can still watch the program. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

HOLY DRIVER'S LICENSES, BATMAN!

Yes, I had to say that. While I was lazy about getting my corrected driver's license (as the morons didn't use the picture they took, or the updated bio information, and I had to go back), I ended up putting it off until May 20.

When I initially renewed, I got my new one in a week.

This one? Took.A.Month.

First, they didn't mail it until 05/25! The payment receipt stated it would arrive in 4-7 business days. I emailed and called the MVA and they assured me it was on its way. Nope. So I called again last week, and they said I could order a duplicate and state the corrected one never arrived, at no cost.

So I can expect the duplicate of the corrected on any day now, because she informed should I receive the original corrected one, it would be no good. Yeah, how? Anyhoo, that's the saga. Which is just me springboarding to my other major peeve:

Ever since the Memorial Day holiday, I've barely gotten any of my mail. Used to be, my little mailbox would be crammed with grocery store sales paper, junk mail, and post cards from retailers, etc., and regular mail. But another thing that never arrived was my new Costco Visa. So I had to call them to cancel it and issue a new card with a new number. I received that within 5 days. The original card never arrived.

I emailed the USPS and they confirmed they weren't holding my mail, but that my mail carrier did confirm that there was barely any mail for me.

But yesterday, my box was jammed full of crap, so yay?

[SoMuchTV]

6 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Ever since the Memorial Day holiday, I've barely gotten any of my mail. Used to be, my little mailbox would be crammed with grocery store sales paper, junk mail, and post cards from retailers, etc., and regular mail. But another thing that never arrived was my new Costco Visa. So I had to call them to cancel it and issue a new card with a new number. I received that within 5 days. The original card never arrived.

I emailed the USPS and they confirmed they weren't holding my mail, but that my mail carrier did confirm that there was barely any mail for me.

But yesterday, my box was jammed full of crap, so yay?

If you don’t already have it, you should sign up for Informed Delivery asap. The instructions should be pretty prominent on the USPS site. It won’t miraculously make your mail appear, but you’ll get an email every day showing what’s supposed to arrive. So at least you know what to follow up on. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

If you don’t already have it, you should sign up for Informed Delivery asap. The instructions should be pretty prominent on the USPS site. It won’t miraculously make your mail appear, but you’ll get an email every day showing what’s supposed to arrive. So at least you know what to follow up on. 

I think I was signed up for it and then opted out. This is a good example of why I should have stayed with it!

[SoMuchTV]

9 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I think I was signed up for it and then opted out. This is a good example of why I should have stayed with it!

Hopefully your account's still there, and you can just opt back in to the emails.  (Or, assuming your account is still active, you can log in and get the same info that you get in the daily emails, going back several days.)  Good luck!

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 minute ago, SoMuchTV said:

Hopefully your account's still there, and you can just opt back in to the emails.  (Or, assuming your account is still active, you can log in and get the same info that you get in the daily emails, going back several days.)  Good luck!

Yup. Still active and I re-opted in. Today? Only one piece of mail is expected. Thursday-4.

It doesn't help that the lobby/mailroom area has been gutted because they're renovating. They ripped out the counter where we can sort and toss paper, newspapers, in the appropriate recycle bin; the machine where we load our cards to use the laundry (need to ask lease management how we're supposed to do that now!), the ceilings leading to the elevators also gutted. I feel like I'm in some 1970s tenement.

We're supposed to enter/exit using the terrace levels during the hours of 9:00 AM-4:00 PM, through September.  But mail carriers and UPS, FedEx couriers are still allowed in. At least now they HAVE to drop off the packages in front of our doors because there's no counter for them to dump the packages in the mailroom!

 

[TattleTeeny]

11 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

We can pause live tv with the dvr. So if they start the test I pause the program. When it restarts you can still watch the program. 

Lucky! Ours appears to render the remote useless but for the volume (at least there’s that, haha!).

[BlueSkies]

Somebody posted a negative review on Google about where I work.  The company takes that very seriously.  So now they're asking employees including myself to post something.

 

I usually only post reviews of places I like.  The only negative review I posted about was my college as I feel it won't really cause somebody at the clerical/server end lots of grief.  Or hurt a small business reputation.

 

 

Yeah I ain't feeling the whole Google reviews though.  Anyway if someone were to actually click on a review I posted at work they can see all the other reviews I have there.   And nobody at work needs to know that stuff.  

[annzeepark914]

11 hours ago, BlueSkies said:

Somebody posted a negative review on Google about where I work.  The company takes that very seriously.  So now they're asking employees including myself to post something

...

Yeah I ain't feeling the whole Google reviews though.  Anyway if someone were to actually click on a review I posted at work they can see all the other reviews I have there.   And nobody at work needs to know that stuff.  

Maybe that's why the company wants employees to post something (so they can scan previous postings?)

[EtheltoTillie]

11 hours ago, BlueSkies said:

Somebody posted a negative review on Google about where I work.  The company takes that very seriously.  So now they're asking employees including myself to post something.

 

I usually only post reviews of places I like.  The only negative review I posted about was my college as I feel it won't really cause somebody at the clerical/server end lots of grief.  Or hurt a small business reputation.

 

 

Yeah I ain't feeling the whole Google reviews though.  Anyway if someone were to actually click on a review I posted at work they can see all the other reviews I have there.   And nobody at work needs to know that stuff.  

Can they force you to do it?  Can you create a separate name?  Seems kind of intrusive.  Also phony!  People complain that reviews are probably fake.  So there you go. 

Speaking of ice cream again, I saw a post on Reddit about local independent ice cream shops.  The poster thought they were overrated.  Then he really got a pile-on from the comments.  "You philistine, you probably like Baskin - Robbins" was the general tenor. 

I stand by my earlier recommendation of Jamoca Almond Fudge. 

I haven't found any local ice cream shop product that sent me over the moon.  Occasionally I have had house-made ice cream at a high-end restaurant that I thought was outstanding.  I know they use those super expensive professional ice cream makers. 

Edited June 19 by EtheltoTillie

[BlueSkies]

3 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Can they force you to do it?  Can you create a separate name?  Seems kind of intrusive.  Also phony!  People complain that reviews are probably fake.  So there you go. 

Speaking of ice cream again, I saw a post on Reddit about local independent ice cream shops.  The poster thought they were overrated.  Then he really got a pile-on from the comments.  "You philistine, you probably like Baskin - Robbins" was the general tenor. 

I stand by my earlier recommendation of Jamoca Almond Fudge. 

I haven't found any local ice cream shop product that sent me over the moon.  Occasionally I have had house-made ice cream at a high-end restaurant that I thought was outstanding.  I know they use those super expensive professional ice cream makers. 

They’re asking not forcing.

I noticed a couple 5 star reviews now for our place with new accounts though.  

[Cloud9Shopper]

When people in the grocery store come through my line with open snacks and drinks from the candy racks or coolers by the registers. Worse yet when it’s for their kids who won’t stop screaming, although adults do it too. 

Unless you or your child is about to pass out or die or go into a diabetic coma if you don’t have a snack right now please stop doing that! I know you’re thirsty, Linda, but most likely you can wait a few minutes until I put a paid sticker on it after scanning it with your other $200 worth of groceries or bring your own water if you really can’t wait. And teach your kids to wait, for the love of God. They will be fine. I could never do that as a customer and don’t get how you are so impatient that you cannot even wait until you get to a register to dig in. 

 

[SoMuchTV]

12 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

When people in the grocery store come through my line with open snacks and drinks from the candy racks or coolers by the registers. Worse yet when it’s for their kids who won’t stop screaming, although adults do it too. 

Unless you or your child is about to pass out or die or go into a diabetic coma if you don’t have a snack right now please stop doing that! I know you’re thirsty, Linda, but most likely you can wait a few minutes until I put a paid sticker on it after scanning it with your other $200 worth of groceries or bring your own water if you really can’t wait. And teach your kids to wait, for the love of God. They will be fine. I could never do that as a customer and don’t get how you are so impatient that you cannot even wait until you get to a register to dig in. 

Huh. I never did it myself, but I was of the impression that that as long as you paid for it at checkout, it was all good. Never realized that this caused problems for the checkout person. Good to know!

[Bastet]

12 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I could never do that as a customer and don’t get how you are so impatient that you cannot even wait until you get to a register to dig in.

I did it once, and was so embarrassed.  A friend and I had a longer-than-anticipated drive out to a vacation condo in Palm Springs, I hadn't eaten yet that day, and she's a highly indecisive everything, especially shopper, so even though we headed to the grocery store immediately after we got checked in and stashed our bags, I knew it was going to be a while before we got back to the condo, or even back in the car, and I did not want to wait that long to have a snack.  So I grabbed a bag of chips to munch on while we trudged through the aisles. 

The checker didn't have to do anything different to scan my half-empty bag of chips than she did the full one we bought, so I don't think I caused any issues (unlike the people who eat half their bunch of grapes, thus not paying for the ones they already ate upon getting what remains weighed at check-out), I just looked incredibly tacky.  But I was hella hungry!

[Dimity]

6 minutes ago, Bastet said:

The checker didn't have to do anything different to scan my half-empty bag of chips than she did the full one we bought, so I don't think I caused any issues

I know I've done this at least once or twice when I shopped with my children back in the day.  I don't think it made any difference to the cashier - or certainly I don't remember anyone ever saying anything.  My belated apologies if it really does cause inconvenience that I hadn't thought of!

[annzeepark914]

Years ago I was in a Winn Dixie in Raleigh. I passed a woman eating from a yogurt container. I head a voice asking her if she'd already paid for the yogurt and she said no. The employee then said that this was like stealing. I moved on and had no idea if anything else was said.

[Cloud9Shopper]

8 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

Years ago I was in a Winn Dixie in Raleigh. I passed a woman eating from a yogurt container. I head a voice asking her if she'd already paid for the yogurt and she said no. The employee then said that this was like stealing. I moved on and had no idea if anything else was said.

That was my point. I don’t say anything to the customers but it’s rude and tacky, IMO, to open it and start eating it in the middle of the store. You and your kids can more than likely wait until it’s paid for to dig in. 

[Dimity]

Ok it's rude and tacky but as long as the customer is honest and pays for it how does that make things hard for the cashier? I see rude tacky and massively entitled people giving cashiers a hard time all too often but it's not because they took a cookie from the box they were buying.

[Yeah No]

On 6/18/2024 at 4:34 PM, SoMuchTV said:

If you don’t already have it, you should sign up for Informed Delivery asap. The instructions should be pretty prominent on the USPS site. It won’t miraculously make your mail appear, but you’ll get an email every day showing what’s supposed to arrive. So at least you know what to follow up on. 

I just signed up for that about a month ago and it's been life changing. I don't know why I didn't do it when I first got the emails about it. I think I glossed over it and misunderstood what it was. I thought it was just about tracking mail you've sent, not mail you're receiving and that's nothing new. I used to wonder if the mail carrier was delivering my mail to the wrong address because I would sometimes get my neighbor's mail. Now if I'm supposed to get something and it doesn't arrive I at least have proof that something happened to it. 

What I didn't realize is that it also tells you about trackable packages that you've sent and when they're being delivered. Although I can look that up on the site, as an Ebay seller, that's very useful to see at a glance.

[Yeah No]

37 minutes ago, Dimity said:

Ok it's rude and tacky but as long as the customer is honest and pays for it how does that make things hard for the cashier? I see rude tacky and massively entitled people giving cashiers a hard time all too often but it's not because they took a cookie from the box they were buying.

This reminds me of my local ShopRite.  Since plastic and even paper bags are no longer provided at the checkout in CT, people bring their own reusable bags with them to pack their groceries or buy them at the checkout. Soon afterward a small percentage of shoppers began using those bags as their "shopping bags" and would go down the aisles putting their groceries in the bags before going to the checkout. I used to side-eye them and wonder to myself how that was any different than shoplifting. And how easy would it be for them to just duck out the door when no one was looking without paying first?

Well, just a couple of months ago a big sign went up at the entrance from management telling customers that they would no longer be able to engage in this practice and must wait until after they've paid for their groceries to bag them. So I guess it wasn't just me!

10 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

Years ago I was in a Winn Dixie in Raleigh. I passed a woman eating from a yogurt container. I head a voice asking her if she'd already paid for the yogurt and she said no. The employee then said that this was like stealing. I moved on and had no idea if anything else was said.

 

[Dimity]

1 minute ago, Yeah No said:

Well, just a couple of months ago a big sign went up at the entrance from management telling customers that they would no longer be able to engage in this practice and must wait until after they've paid for their groceries to bag them. So I guess it wasn't just me!

We have resuable plastic boxes (which I love) and the stores we go to don't have a problem if you use that instead of the carrier baskets the store provides but like you I can't imagine why anyone would think it appropriate to shop into their grocery bags.  Theft issue aside how is that any more convenient when they are going through the check out?  Weirdness.

[Yeah No]

6 minutes ago, Dimity said:

We have resuable plastic boxes (which I love) and the stores we go to don't have a problem if you use that instead of the carrier baskets the store provides but like you I can't imagine why anyone would think it appropriate to shop into their grocery bags.  Theft issue aside how is that any more convenient when they are going through the check out?  Weirdness.

Yeah - I read up on this and it's something called "concealment".  If you put the item in a bag where you can't see it it's considered wrong even if you haven't walked out of the store yet. To me it's just common sense, you would never put something in your bag before buying it. It doesn't matter what kind of bag it is, it's still concealed and that's the issue.

[annzeepark914]

I can't imagine hauling bags of groceries through a store when it's so easy to use a small cart. Wegmans has a ton of these mini carts. I wish the other supermarkets did (Harris Teeter has a few but some of the older folks who live at a nearby (age 62+) highrise take them back to their apts 🤬). 

[Dimity]

3 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

I can't imagine hauling bags of groceries through a store when it's so easy to use a small cart.

The people I've seen doing this do have shopping carts, they are putting their grocery choices into the bags though as they go along.  Which is odd even if they aren't trying to be sketchy!

Quote

(Harris Teeter has a few but some of the older folks who live at a nearby (age 62+) highrise take them back to their apts 🤬). 

This reminds me of a grocery store peeve of mine - the store nearest us makes you pay 25 cents to get a grocery cart, which you do get back when you leave.  The point, apparently, is to discourage people from taking the carts off the store property.  But, yeah, if I was the type of person who was going to take a grocery cart would the loss of 25 cents discourage me?

[bluegirl147]

On 6/19/2024 at 9:16 AM, EtheltoTillie said:

I haven't found any local ice cream shop product that sent me over the moon.

There is a local seasonal  ice cream place here.  Open from May to Labor Day.  He posts a lot on social media and it has made people think his ice cream is the best ever. In reality it's just ice cream. But sometimes marketing works.  There is always a long line waiting every day.

20 minutes ago, Dimity said:

This reminds me of a grocery store peeve of mine - the store nearest us makes you pay 25 cents to get a grocery cart, which you do get back when you leave

Aldi's does that here.  I rarely have cash so therefore I rarely have change because I'm not spending cash.  I hardly ever go to Aldi's but when I do I'm digging through my purse to see if I have a quarter.

My pet peeve is companies changing your account to paperless without telling you.  Target did that to me earlier this year.  I rarely use my Target card and hadn't realized I missed a payment until I received an email.  So you can email me I'm past due but not email me you are making me paperless?  I successfully argued to have my late late fee removed. And now it looks like my DMV is going paperless too.  I only know this because I got an email about my mother's car needing it's registration renewed next month (she doesn't do email.)

[ABay]

Hi there, call me sketchy and/or odd but I do generally use my reusable bag to gather groceries as I go. The stores here, except for Big Y, refuse to provide mini-carts. I'm not getting enough at one time to waste my time navigating the aisles with their cadillac-sized carts or impale myself on them trying to get groceries out.

Edited Thursday at 02:33 PM by ABay

[Ohiopirate02]

I am never buying enough at Aldi to necessitate me finding a quarter for one of their giant carts (and those carts are big for the size of the store). I always fill up my reusable bags as I wander the aisles getting my groceries.  It also prevents me from getting more than what will fit in my bags at checkout.  Never once had anyone say anything.

[Quof]

30 minutes ago, Dimity said:

But, yeah, if I was the type of person who was going to take a grocery cart would the loss of 25 cents discourage me?

Back in my day (Grandpa, tell me 'bout the good old days), kids would go around  parking lots offering to return your cart so they would get the quarter and you saved the trip.   

[Dimity]

@ABay and @Ohiopirate02 -- Now that you mention it it is getting harder to find the mini carts in the stores I go into. At least one near us has completely removed them.   Is this some marketing gimmick where they assume if you have a  bigger cart you will buy more stuff?

Edited Thursday at 02:54 PM by Dimity

[Mondrianyone]

14 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Never realized that this caused problems for the checkout person.

Unless I've missed it, we haven't been told how it causes problems for the cashier if the customer provides the eaten item to be scanned for checkout. Because I don't think tacky behavior has any direct impact on employees, except for being tacky behavior. Anyone?

[Ohiopirate02]

1 hour ago, Dimity said:

@ABay and @Ohiopirate02 -- Now that you mention it it is getting harder to find the mini carts in the stores I go into. At least one near us has completely removed them.   Is this some marketing gimmick where they assume if you have a  bigger cart you will buy more stuff?

Aldi only has one size of cart and they require a quarter to use. Most of the other chains in my area have the smaller cart and/or baskets. I rarely ever get a big cart when doing a quick shop. The only stores where I get a big cart are Target and the Big Walmart, and even then I prefer to use a basket whenever possible. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

I never said it caused me a problem personally. It was meant to be a gripe, a pet peeve, of rude customer behavior. Not to mention part of the reason I wrote this post is because the kids who were allowed to open their snacks and drinks before they were paid for, and one of them threw the wrapper on the floor, which then an employee has to pick up. I didn’t expect to cause so much uproar; just a way of saying people should have better manners and teach their kids as such.

[Dimity]

26 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I never said it caused me a problem personally. It was meant to be a gripe, a pet peeve, of rude customer behavior.

I get that it annoys you but I am still not seeing how this is rude customer behavior.  As long as they intend to pay and are presenting you with the container so you can scan it  - all bets are off if they are eating stuff that should be weighed of course.

[partofme]

5 minutes ago, Dimity said:

I get that it annoys you but I am still not seeing how this is rude customer behavior.  As long as they intend to pay and are presenting you with the container so you can scan it  - all bets are off if they are eating stuff that should be weighed of course.

I’ve never worked in a grocery store so I can’t say if it’s rude behavior but I think it’s strange behavior.  I didn’t even realize until I read about this online a few years ago that it was even a thing, I’ve never seen it done and I would be nervous doing it, it seems a bit like theft to me since you’re eating stuff you haven’t yet paid for.  I don’t understand short of a life saving emergency situation why it would be necessary to eat while still in the supermarket. 

[Quof]

Because North Americans have been trained to shove something in their pieholes at least every 90 minutes?   Parents placate children with food rather than identify and address the underlying cause of their distress.  

[isalicat]

  "6 hours ago, Dimity said:

This reminds me of a grocery store peeve of mine - the store nearest us makes you pay 25 cents to get a grocery cart, which you do get back when you leave

Aldi's does that here.  I rarely have cash so therefore I rarely have change because I'm not spending cash.  I hardly ever go to Aldi's but when I do I'm digging through my purse to see if I have a quarter."

Sorry - apparently I have failed at quoting properly again, but wanted to chime in with an agreement on this pet peeve - I am not going to go through an extra two steps to get a grocery cart (give a quarter and then get the quarter back), and furthermore, the Aldi's here is freezing cold all the time so I can't stay in there long enough to fill a cart before feeling like I'm getting pneumonia!

[SoMuchTV]

4 minutes ago, isalicat said:

  "6 hours ago, Dimity said:

This reminds me of a grocery store peeve of mine - the store nearest us makes you pay 25 cents to get a grocery cart, which you do get back when you leave

Aldi's does that here.  I rarely have cash so therefore I rarely have change because I'm not spending cash.  I hardly ever go to Aldi's but when I do I'm digging through my purse to see if I have a quarter."

Sorry - apparently I have failed at quoting properly again, but wanted to chime in with an agreement on this pet peeve - I am not going to go through an extra two steps to get a grocery cart (give a quarter and then get the quarter back), and furthermore, the Aldi's here is freezing cold all the time so I can't stay in there long enough to fill a cart before feeling like I'm getting pneumonia!

Haha, I'm not even a regular Aldi's shopper, but I have an Aldi's quarter in one of the little cubbyholes in my car door.  I think they (or someone) makes a keychain that holds a quarter. 

[Browncoat]

My local grocery store has a perimeter wheel-lock on all their carts.  If you try to take one past the edges of their parking lot, the wheels lock.  They also have a basket of "fruit for kids" that is free small bananas or cuties or other fruit to placate the kiddies.