#533 Taking a spin on a shopping cart

Neil Pasricha

Hey, baby.

Take a ride on the wild side.

Yes, while walking down that empty grocery store aisle look left at the Cocoa Puffs, look right at the rice cakes, nod confidently, and then step on the cart and fly.

Apples bounce, salami slides, and there are some intense g-forces on your loaf of bread. But a few seconds later, a few feet away, how much are you smiling after that dangerous floor-tile thrill ride to the yogurt section?

Now, there are a few different ways the dangerous deeds go down.

Here we go:

1. Pedal to the metal. This is the classic one-foot ride to heaven. Two hands on the bar, one foot jammed underneath, and your back leg hanging out like a wobbly figure skater. Just make sure you’ve got a watermelon and a sack of potatoes in your cart to hold her steady.

2.Two Footer. This is similar to the Pedal to the metal, but with more commitment. Without your skiddy-soled runners providing an emergency brake anything could happen. Remember to know your limits and play safe out there.

3. A Tisket A Tasket. Someone’s riding in the basket. Make sure you don’t crash into a wall of soup because the only air bags in this thing are full of onions.

4. The Station Wagon. Remember that backseat in old station wagons facing the opposite direction? This is the shopping cart version. Hold on tight to the front of the cart and hope the driver doesn’t steer you into the egg wall.

5. The Submarine. Highly not-recommended. This deep sea move consists of riding underneath where the soda cans and diapers  usually sit. It also consists of being at the mercy of the lunatic driver above you. Remember to be safe in that grocery store jungle. Nobody wants to go home with a forehead full of kidney bean can dents.

Yes, taking a quick spin on a shopping cart is a coffee aisle vacation.

It’s juice and jam jubilation.

It’s a diaper dash temptation.

And it’s a supermarket celebration.

AWESOME!

Photos from: here, here, here, and here

56 thoughts to “#533 Taking a spin on a shopping cart”

  1. Yeah, at my local grocery store, the employees kick you out for even the “pedal to the Metal.” I wish I could do this. Grocery shopping used to be fun…

    1. I did the two footer today, outside the Walmart while my 13 month old twins were laughing their heads off and my husband yelled “GO MOMMY!” …and it was a great moment.

  2. Oh yeah! Getting the opportunity to, as an adult, perform these fun maneuvers is such a joyful indulgence.

    So what if the Walmart cashier has to tell you that the full-size adult male who is just chilled back, enjoying a ride in classic #3 style should get out of the cart? Around the bend, this employee won’t notice – nor can he stop you – from participating in a hearty and long-distance #1. And you better believe that the parking lot is a free-for-all for shopping-cart-ride-experimentation.

    I might even attempt a #5.

    1. Let me tell you. NOT FUN! Not when the person driving you likes to go down big parking lot hills and crash into cars. One of my worst grocery shopping experiences =$

  3. This is so great! Nothing like adding some more fun to grocery shopping. A couple cases of water on the lower rack are perfect for stabilizing your cart and keeping you upright. Just make sure not to do this with an empty cart.. things can turn bad pretty quickly. Some of us aren’t 8 years old and 70 lbs anymore, a fact that’s easy to forget when we’re given the opportunity to fly past all those brightly coloured bags of chips.

  4. I’m a two footer rider. I love doing this. I have done this since I was a kid. You get to break the rules, have fun and you know almost everyone else does it too.

  5. Shopping cart rides are a lot of fun, even at the advanced age of 55!

    Years ago I was waiting for someone in a parking lot when a few lanes over a shopper drove off, just barely nudging an empty cart. I watched as it started to slowly roll away, with only a single car anywhere near its projected path down the lot. That car had a young man sitting in it, also waiting for someone, with the window down and his elbow resting out the open window. As the cart gained speed, I could see that it was making a beeline for the car. Being a few hundred feet away, I knew I could not get to it before it impacted the car broadside, so I started leaning on the horn, honk, honk, honk, until at the last second the guy looked in my direction, saw the cart, reached out and stopped it.

    My good deed for the day having been successful, I watched as he tried to deal with the errant cart. He pushed it away, but it rolled back at him. After several attempts he realized that wasn’t going to work. Did he exert himself, open the door, get out and deal with the cart? No way! He wiggled it back and forth (all with one arm) until he could tip the cart over. Crash! He then went back to looking bored and continued waiting.

    Awesome!

  6. Our grocery store has quite a hill in the parking lot and my husband does the #2 about half the time. He’ll do about anything for speed. That goofy grin tells all.
    I love to follow behind and hear the comments and see the looks he gets. The women sometimes shake their head. The guys and the kids are usually staring, with the “I wanna do THAT” look on their face. I just smile and say “some people never grow up.”

  7. You forgot the Fly Like an Eagle. This is a combo of number two and a swanky “look Ma, no hands” move. This should only be done with a grocery cart loaded full of potatoes and a spotter, but my oh my, how thrilling it can be!

  8. When I was young, my dad would hop on the cart for a two-footer. I always had to run a little to catch up…but so worth it to see my dad acting like a big kid. :-D

  9. One of my fraternity brothers was recently in a grocery store doing shopping cart “jousting” with pool noodles. Two people would essentially joust while two others pushed them in the shopping carts. Needless to say, they got kicked out of the store

    …because one of them was barefoot.

  10. The Submarine! OMG! LOL! I just saw that this weekend. What a genius way to ride. What a perfect code-name. 1000awesomethings.com does it again!

  13. I always do this when I empty the cart in the car and have to take it back to buggy bus shelter. Added intensity when it’s a saturday afternoon at walmart and the parking lot is like a chicken coop with car cluckin everywhere!

  14. Ha ha, pulled a Pedal to the Metal just a couple days ago. Store employees are far more lenient later at night. I’m sure this trend occurs exponentially in 24 hour stores.

    And i have pleasant memories of pulling a submarine as a small child.

    And like Ashley, I learned cart-riding from my dad. :)

  17. Two-footer is the only way to go so that means only when buying water or tons of meat.

    Plus, the aisles are lame. The parking lot is where it’s at!

  18. i love this with a passion. but i’m pretty sure i have permanent dents in my leg from trying, failing, and slamming my shins into that stupid bar whose evil purpose is only to curb my figure skating-esque gliding efforts.

    1. What is the purpose of that stupid bar? Never have figured that one out. I run into the dumb thing just pushing the cart normally…

  21. “It’s juice and jam jubilation.

    It’s a diaper dash temptation.

    And it’s a supermarket celebration.”

    neil, you’re so awesome!

  22. This is the best thing in the world. I can completely steer them with both feet on the cart by kicking the wheels
    Awesome!!!

  23. My fiance does this with the kids in the cart and makes engine noises too. Many times he will skid around a corner with the cart on two wheels and the kids screaming in delight. I’m the putz that yells at him to keep it safe (four on the floor and it’s all good).

    I must be the only person who has had a decent injury from this. It was #1 going into a #2 and I was still picking up speed. I leaned too far forward, popped the front wheels up, and so I leaned back, but wasn’t able to get my feet off the bar in time to catch myself. Landed right on my backside, bruising my pelvic bone like no other. I sat on the floor and cried. My daughter stared down at me while I crawled to the cart to help myself up. Amazingly, no one else in the store witnessed it.

  24. You also forgot the straight-arm no-footer. Definately need a lot of weight in the basket to pull it off though.

    Has anyone tried to skate with one of the mini-carts made for kids yet?

  25. In Australia there are only two main supermarket chains. I’m sure the reason I prefer Woolworths is that you can’t pull a two footer on a Coles shopping trolley :)

  27. Soemthing I’ve always found satisfying and less likely to get you in trouble: Slip on some Heelys and let the cart take you away.

    Even better is you can steer much easier than Pedalling to the Metal as well.

    Even big kids love wheels on their heels. ;)

  29. What I like to do…It’s kind of a pedal to the medal with a twist. I use the free foot to kick it forward like a scooter and sometimes drag it to make the cart turn. I must say, I’ve gotten pretty good at the art of riding shopping carts.

  30. YES!!! I am NOT alone out there riding my cart! I am a small 49-yr old female – fit & fearless: I fly my cart hip bones and paws on the hand rail, toes pointed, back arched in swan dive form, feet and legs aloft and trailing like the tail of a bizjet!

  32. As a nearly 40-year-old kid, I always ride the cart (trolley as we call it) back to the trolley-park after loading up the car. If I can “forget” that my 3-year old is in it and pretend to leave her with the trolleys then so much the better!

    Shopping should be fun!

  33. Today I learned that I am not the only adult in the world that still rides the shopping cart. I like to ride to the car (it slopes from store exit to parking lot). Thank you for letting me know that I am not alone. I have never seen any other “grown up” do this. I am a 36 yo female btw.

  34. I’ve taken this one a step further. My friends and I found a trolley a fair distance from the supermarket, and, deciding since it was already this far on its grand escape, maybe we should help it along.

    I sat in the trolley with our respective handbags whilst my friend pushed me across a highway, down a massive hill that nearly got us hit by a 4WD, before she lost control, and I went soaring down a slope until I was stopped by the gutter. By the sheer power of my awesomeness, I managed not to be flung from the trolley and remained upright. It was a rush!

    Then, later, we pushed the thing through a KFC drive thru, and managed to score some free drinks off the people working there. And people took our photo. :)

  36. Ummm, just make sure there’s someone/thing in the far end of the cart to balance out the weight. I tried this once w my brother in the little front babybasket seat and we crashed and I broke his leg. OOPS. He’s a college ball player though, so I guess it wasn’t that bad…

  37. IKEA carts, people. IKEA. There are two options: regular and basket-less furniture movers. Go for the latter. You’ll notice at the end of the day that the workers are zooming around the parking lots themselves as they herd ’em all up and bring ’em on in. It’s good clean parking lot fun!

  38. A favourite memory-a friend and I found a shopping cart while out for a walk late at night. We took turns doing a #3 and pushing each other down the middle of the road laughing our heads off. Just us letting our inner kids go-AWESOME! We still laugh over it :)

  39. Okay, I admit it… I USED to do this all the time. when I had to call my husband from the ER, he couldn’t believe it! Thought I was just ONE nut out there – little does he know. However, with my leg broken in 3 places and my ankle broken – surgery on the leg 3 days ago… well, I think my cart hopping days are over. It’ll be 8 weeks until I’m out of the cast, then who knows what. I can NOT believe I tipped and crashed so bad!! But hey, the people that came to my rescue, the ER and hospital staff and all the people I know in the world have had a GREAT laugh on me. So at least I’ve made people smile :)

  40. This brought a big smile to my face–my husband (30) does this every time we’re at the grocery store :)

    Sometimes I give him a big push, hehe

  41. Such an awesome thing also if you know how you can make the cart jump up the curb after you put your groceries up! If you are daring you got to know lots of tricks too!

  42. Yes! One of two best times was that one hairy night when me and my two girl friends were hopped up on coffee drinks and pushed each other around the Wal-Mart at high speeds at 2 a.m. The other great time was when my drunken boyfriend pushed a tipsy and half-baked me around the store in a wobbly cart with a box of cookies. This led to throwing up in the bathroom, but still a great time.

  43. In my early 20’s and i still do this, if i’m grocery shopping with someone, they pretend they dont know me…..except when i’m with my best friend, she joins me.

  44. At age eight, I was master of the submarine. I stretched all the way out next to my little brother, usually face down. Then I just watched the tiles slide by while trying to keep my hair out of the wheels.

    This is why ponytails rock.

  47. *Shelley* was only 14, 4’7″ and maybe 85 pounds. Smart as she was she liked some alcoholic beverages, which didn’t go so well with her tiny body. One night she tried some cherry whiskey and liked it a little too much, resulting in the gang putting her into a shopping cart and strolling her about 1 mile to where we lived; where I proceeded to clean up on aisle # stoop, stairs, hallway and Shelley before tucking her in, then watching over her until it was all out of her system.
    I guess it was antics like ours that assisted in the pay/key/lock of most carts today.

  48. When I was 11, I did the classic move and I was so naive that I did it even though there were only a couple of things in the cart, resulting in my fall and the cart and its items falling on me. Everyone turned around, and my dad gave me the death look, which wasn’t awesome, until a lady came and helped me up, which was awesome 8 )

  49. Haha I’m 28 and when I did the submarine last year but my friend let go and I fell out onto a colvourt and broke my arm nose, and hip I haven’t gone fora cartride since :$

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