Shopper sent a cart flying into a family’s car rather than return it — then came back to find it zip-tied to her driver’s door
'Was it petty? Sure. Did it delay her an extra 15 minutes? Absolutely. Did she learn her lesson? Probably not.'
Parents know that when a sleeping baby finally drifts off in the backseat, they have to do everything in their power not to break the spell. So when a couple found their few-month-old daughter sleeping as they parked their vehicle in a local Target, they decided to wait until she woke up from her little nap before heading in. It was during this halt that another driver used her car to shove a stray shopping cart toward the return area, sending it into the family’s vehicle. Refusing to let this behavior slide, the couple engineered a plan. One of them (u/AlpacaLps) later took to Reddit to reveal the entire story on September 27, 2026, amassing more than 3,000 upvotes.
A rude parking awakening
The ordeal started while the family sat parked near a collection stall, carefully passing the time. "My wife and I were at a Target, sitting in the car waiting for our daughter to wake up from a nap (a few months old at this point)," the person shared. Peace shattered when another driver wanted an open spot blocked by a stray cart and chose the worst possible shortcut. Instead of walking up to remove the cart, the woman pressed the throttle of her car and pushed the cart, which ended up hitting this family's vehicle, which was parked next to it.
Crafting a swift payback
After the woman walked inside without checking the damage, the driver waited until the woman went inside, then came up with a plan. "At first, I thought someone backed into us but realized what she had done. She goes into Target, and I decide to get some petty revenge," they remarked. After this, the person grabbed a few zip ties from their roadside assistance kit and then tied the woman's door handle to the cart. It was perhaps the biggest gesture, but it did its job as the person headed by to their car for first-row seats.
Watching the confusion mount
The woman soon returned, only to find a cart tied to her door. She was baffled by this. She went back inside and returned first with a cart attendant, then with a supervisor or manager. Eventually, another shopper cut the zip ties with a knife. Finally, the door was free, and the family then proceeded to run their errands comfortably while the woman's car stood there even after their return.
Parking is a stressful affair
Instances like these explain why Americans find parking to be a significant task every day. According to an Automotive Fleet survey, 73.5% of adults consider parking to be stressful. It revealed that nearly 18.8% spend 30 minutes or more just to find a parking spot. Nonetheless, even after finding a spot, a striking 24% of drivers fear that their car might get damaged. The stress of parking is such that 53% of Americans reportedly prefer to avoid or abandon their plans.
Only two kinds of people
The people in the meantime shared their views on the entire situation. u/YellowCake1900 commented, "There really are only two kinds of people in the world: The kind who return shopping carts. The kind who do not. That simple action 100% discloses how the person acts in every other aspect of life." Meanwhile, u/EstablishmentNo7438 noted, "People who push the carts without putting them into the corral are rude & ignorant. One lady pushed the cart, and it hit my car, and I said What the hell, lady & she said I'm sorry & she just got in her car and left. I still have the dent today, which happened over 20 yrs ago." Hilariously enough, the OP ended his post noting, "Was it petty? Sure. Did it delay her an extra 15 minutes? Absolutely. Did she learn her lesson? Probably not."
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