The stray shopping cart project

March 5, 2006 9:36 AM

Trolley-spotting : Dedicated to developing a system of classification that allows stray shopping carts to be identified based on the situations in which they are found.
posted by boo_radley (12 comments total)

Good Lord, at least trains have some inherent charm.
posted by caddis at 10:02 AM on March 5, 2006

That's really what I liked about this site. It takes the most banal, utilitarian object and fetishizes it in a categorical fashion. And you might scoff now, but some day, you'll recognize your first true B-21 and you'll be hooked for life.
posted by boo_radley at 10:10 AM on March 5, 2006

My dad was a manager for Thrifty's/Rite-Aid for 20 something years, and he was obsessed with stray shopping carts. He'd troll through Sacramento, picking up any Thrifty/Rite-Aid carts he could find to take back to his store. One of his points of pride was that his store always had shopping carts for customers despite being in a neighbourhood with a sizable homeless population.
posted by kendrak at 11:03 AM on March 5, 2006

Very elaborate.
posted by euphorb at 11:40 AM on March 5, 2006

Incredible.
posted by darkstar at 11:41 AM on March 5, 2006

That's great. Thanks!
posted by brundlefly at 11:52 AM on March 5, 2006

+++

Now do it with wheelie bins!
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 12:04 PM on March 5, 2006

At a certain university which shall remain nameless, we used stray carts for office moves, the token deposit still carefully locked away on the handlebar.
posted by komilnefopa at 12:12 PM on March 5, 2006

Did anyone make a Gomez reference? If so, I missed it.
posted by Eideteker at 12:53 PM on March 5, 2006

There is something very disturbing about reading this post after the Lonnie Thomson and Kevin Carter FPP's.
posted by localroger at 2:35 PM on March 5, 2006

Wow, I can't imagine having the time to dedicate to the taxonomy of stray shopping carts. I suppose now he can sell his research.
posted by ilsa at 2:55 PM on March 5, 2006

nice! Thanks!
posted by shoepal at 4:18 PM on March 5, 2006