A man who decided to abandon his empty cart on the curb after shopping at a mall in Oregon encountered a cart vigilante who stopped at no length to get him to return it. A clip of the tense exchange between the shopper and the cart police was posted on Reddit. The clip begins with a view of the customer carelessly dumping the trolley on the road before heading to his car. While the man was seated in his car, a vigilant bystander approached him and began to admonish him. “That’s not where the carts go, sir. The carts go back at the carts’ return,” the man reprimanded.
In response, the shopper claimed he did not see any trolley return area, prompting the bystander to suggest taking him there. Rather than take the customer to the return area, the cart narc stuck a hood magnet on his car, causing him to flare up in anger.
“Get away from me, you son of a b**ch,” the man yelled. However, the cart vigilante was far from done with him and kept on badgering him. Another part of the clip showed the shopper shoving something into the mailbox when the cart watcher chased him down.
At this point, the customer seemed fed up with the persistent confrontation and lashed out at the man, saying, “Get out of here! Stop following me, stop chasing me!” The clip caught the attention of netizens, who were conflicted about whether the cart narc was right or wrong in chasing down the customer.
One netizen criticized the Cart Narc, writing, “Why are you harassing people? Your time is spent better fighting ICE than policing carts.” A second netizen shared a similar opinion, suggesting that the vigilante “focus his righteous energy in a more meaningful direction.”
Another individual alleged the cart narc’s actions constituted bullying. The individual penned, “He picked out someone who was being imperfect, but not really harmful to anyone, and then harassed him for internet clout. This video is disgusting. This isn’t justice, this is bullying.”
On the other hand, some social media users supported the vigilant trolley watcher. One netizen praised him, writing, “Cart narc is an agent of justice, not a tyrant.” A second individual added, “I love how much more time and energy these losers waste while melting down, instead of just returning the cart.
A third supporter chimed in, “I feel like if you had an excellent reason and it would’ve ended there with the cart narc politely offering to return your cart for you.”
Perhaps this serves as a reminder always to return your shopping carts!