She was a granny of a cart....

So, my question is, do grocery carts ever get serviced?

Do the tires get rotated? The air pressure checked? And, what about that alignment?

It’s bad enough these go-carts come equipped without brakes or properly functioning turn signals. And, have you seen the seat belts on these puppies?

When I last was loading my most precious cargo into one of these contraptions at the corner grocer, there was only one word that came to mind.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

This particular beauty was the granny of the bunch. She most likely had served her time well, carting around screaming babies and bulging brown paper bags through the years.

And, she had the war wounds to show it.

This granny of a cart maneuvered slowly through the store, squeaking as she went. And, she was most tricky around corners.

Most interesting was her rear driver side tire. It seemed to swivel continuously in the wrong direction, lost in its mad, never ending rotation. The rear passenger side tire was no better as it seemed to be struggling with a long piece of random string that had the misfortune of having wound its way tightly around the axel.

And, let’s not even speak of her appearance. I do understand that the years can corrode beauty, but……really…..a bath was long overdue.

One can only wonder what kind of a life these poor things lead. The life of a work horse. A slave. An indentured servant. A prisoner, even.

And, then I heard the hoopla.

He had made it across three lanes of traffic without a hitch and was now attempting a wheelie over the curb.

A lone grocery cart breaking free.

I watched his heroic run with a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat.

And then I did it. I left that granny cart in the most remote corner of the parking lot, far from the peering eye of any teenage box boy. Unfettered. Unrestrained.

And free to catch up with her man.

Ah. I just love a happy ending. Kinda made my day.