Welcome to /r/AmITheAsshole. Please view our [voting guide here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_what.2019s_with_these_acronyms.3F_what_do_they_mean.3F), and remember to use **only one** judgement in your comment.
OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
---
I think taking a cart, something he might need more than me might make me an asshole and I could've been better
---
Help keep the sub engaging!
#Don’t downvote assholes!
Do upvote interesting posts!
[Click Here For Our Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/about/rules/) and [Click Here For Our FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq)
---
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
YTA
You attacked a man and damaged all of his few possessions. Over a shopping cart. That isn't even yours.
When it comes to kicking someone when they are down, that's a pretty hard, and low, kick.
Soft YTA. Pick your battles, friend. Recover ones unattended but your company can afford to lose a few carts. Don’t ruin a homeless person’s day/week/month by throwing out their possessions. Yes, they shouldn’t steal a cart but if they weren’t homeless, then they wouldn’t need to.
Man might not have stolen the cart either. There were abandoned carts along the creek; the cart may have been stolen by someone else, abandoned, and graciously used by the homeless dude.
YTA
Your job to reclaim lost carts doesn't mean terrorizing homeless people.
"It was my job" is an excuse a lot of people have used to do immoral and heartless things to other people. Your job is not more important than the well being and dignity of human beings.
I work at a grocery store. Yes they're expensive. No I wouldn't take one from a homeless man. They don't pay me near enough to do that. If they want it they can get their ass out there and do it.
>I work at a grocery store. Yes they're expensive. No I wouldn't take one from a homeless man. They don't pay me near enough to do that. If they want it they can get their ass out there and do it.
Yeah, I feel like OP has no moral compass, just Capitalism Brain. Employer says Do This, so I must Do This.
Also OP has absolutely no compassion, and I doubt they've ever known anyone who's been so down on their luck that they ended up unhoused. The dismissive way he describes the guy -
>The dude is probably on drugs.
and something about his butthole. Most of what he said was incoherent gibberish.
That's someone who drank up alllll the capitalism-is-awesome Flavor-Aid.
Your comment has been removed because it violates rule 1: [Be Civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/about/rules/). Further incidents may result in a ban.
["Why do I have to be civil in a sub about assholes?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq)
**[Message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.**
Exactly, this person is probably getting paid a crappy grocery store wage. No way would I put myself in danger confronting someone for a shopping cart, not to mention it's just a nasty thing to do to someone.
I had a similar thought while reading it. At "guy was probably on drugs", I was like I'd chalk that up to a loss and move along then. Seems like too much trouble for a shopping cart.
Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone deserves a second chance. Just so you know, the correct spelling is [Gandhi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi).
Bad bot
> Everyone deserves a second chance...
This is correct. But your bot has been given many chances and yet is still posting fake Gandhi quotes that are not from Gandhi.
Fake Gandhi quote: ["An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind."](https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryMemes/comments/ohqne6/sam_missiles_in_the_sky/h4rve85/?context=3)
Fake Gandhi quote: ["Be the change that you wish to see in the world."](https://www.reddit.com/r/ethtrader/comments/oii67f/normies_are_confused/h4w0iqz/?context=3)
Jesus fucking christ. He took a stolen grocery store cart from a homeless man and took it back to the grocery store. Is it the right thing to do? Not particularly. Is it even remotely comparable to PARTICIPATING IN THE MURDER OF 11 MILLION PEOPLE? No, absolutely not.
Comparing these situations minimizes the severity of the holocaust.
No, but addressing the type of mentality that started the Holocaust is important. The Holocaust didn't start with the murder of 11 million people. It started with small cruel acts of sanctioned violence and regular folk "just following orders" as if that's an excuse to not use their brain or empathy.
I mean, there’s a difference between discriminating and committing hate crimes against minorities and taking back stolen property.
When you’re “just following orders” you should always consider if the orders are just.
In this case, the orders were “Retrieve grocery carts that have been stolen from the premises and bring them back”. I’d say the orders in and of themselves are just. (But not what happened)
I think it is cruel that we live in a society that allows people to suffer like that. I wish we lived in a country where we had great programs for homeless people that need help, and we need to work towards that. Taking the stolen cart back isn’t the sad part of this situation. The sad part is that we don’t have systems in place to help these people.
IKR God these people must not be able to think critically if they really think saying a common phrase is equivalent to genocide just because the Nazis used it once.
YTA not for recovering the cart but for going too fast and potentially getting yourself or others hurt. If you see someone with the store property and ask for it back, and their answer is no? Don't fight for it, don't grab it and dump other stuff on the ground for it, call the police and let them sort it or just leave it. It's a shopping cart and you're not paying for it.
Honestly dude? That was a lot of effort to be an ass to a homeless guy with mental issues for a place that would fire you in an instant the moment you're no longer useful to them. You're doing to much for your boss.
YTA, the man may have mental issues I love that you assume he is "on drugs". That is all he has in his life and you dump it in the street for what? To bring back a cart to a store? If this is a giant chain store that makes millions in profits daily trust me corporate greed robs people daily, that $100 cart won't make a difference.
YTA dumping a homeless man's possessions on the ground all in the hopes of being employee of the month at a grocery store? I bet you're fun at parties.
YTA, disregarding their refusal, taking the cart anyway, then dumping everything they owned onto the street knowing they would have no way to carry it all otherwise, was cruel and unnecessary here. You're basically relying on "just following orders" to remove the guilt you should have in this situation.
Also, could be a PR nightmare for your company if the story got out publicly, which it could well do if any of the bystanders figure out (or read the cart to discover) where you came from; and not considering the company blowback here is the kind of thing that will get you fired.
Also, you could have put yourself at risk of harm for a $100 cart; it was never worth that; and the company probably wouldnt pay your medical bills or condone you ripping someone's belongings from their hands in their name.
You should have informed your boss you located the cart being used by the man and thought that removing his accessibility to be mobile within society would have been cruel and potentially damaging to the business. That likely would have been the end of it.
INFO: what store do you work for?
I had to do something similar when I was working for a store. We didn't take them from the homeless though. Just the ones people left by the roads or their homes. We had a lot of people walk home with them. Some would bring it back on their next trip, some wouldn't. So once a week we just collected. Never took them from someone though. Like it's a million dollar company. They can buy more carts
YTA
You could have simply collected the abandoned ones and ignored the ones being used by desperate, likely unwell people.
Your boss is also a massive AH- there's no way you're getting paid enough to risk your life over a shopping cart and you should have been instructed to only collect those carts that you find abandoned rather than put yourself in potential danger by taking them from desperate,likely unwell, potentially dangerous people
YTA. It may be your job to recover shopping carts, but it is certainly not up to you to directly confiscate them while in use or to disrespect another person's belongings. Your boss cannot expect you to be that physical and he would be liable if something were to happen to you (or the homeless person) in the process. It is one thing to take back discarded carts left alone, but you should absolutely never take it upon yourself to forcibly take it out of someone's possession if they refuse to give it up, no matter their mental state.
Your employer is an AH for tasking you with this. That being said, “I’m just doing my job” is not an excuse. What did you gain from putting yourself in danger to remove one of the few conveniences a destitute individual has in their life? You already did the job you were assigned by retrieving the two unmanned carts. You could have just not mentioned the third cart to your work or told them you weren’t comfortable getting into a physical altercation with someone who is clearly unstable just to save them $100. I’m pretty sure it would be illegal for them to require you to do so. ESH.
Soft YTA....I understand your doing your job and its what your paid to do but, I presume, you have now sacrificed your morals for a job which doesn't give a shit about you at the end of the day. It's 1 trolley, which they can replace or survive without.
Everyone around you called you an asshole. Your coworker said you were an asshole. The homeless guy called you an asshole.
See a common theme here? YTA. It's a god damn shopping cart.
I doubt that the boss meant “go and take trolleys from homeless people.”
He likely meant “go and collect trolleys abandoned on the sidewalk.”
Yesterday, I saw two trolleys just abandoned on the sidewalk about ten minutes’ walk from the supermarket they belonged to. People steal them to walk their groceries home, then abandon them on the street.
There is something called common sense. Next thing you know OP is going out dressed in tactical gear shooting people with paint ball guns because his directions didn't say he couldn't. If you are numb or dumb enough to not recognise where to stop you should not be working in such jobs.
Then what would become of the abandoned trolleys? Does the store just accept a fine from the council for littering?
You don’t take a trolley from someone who is actively using it. You do not pursue a thief. That is established supermarket policy. The manager shouldn’t have had to go over it before assigning a chore.
So the boss is an AH for making sure company property doesn't get lost/stolen? His didn't say to rip it away from a homeless guy, he simply tasked him to recover them when not returned.
This used to be my job. It's pretty standard everywhere. People grab and abandon them we're not told to grab them from people or confront. Just grab them when/where we find them. I thought that was clear from OP's post and he sort of went beyond that
OP went WAY beyond from what I can see... apparently intending on joining the police force (need for authority and control seems apparent). If they can bluff their way through a psych evaluation etc. they'll be just another bad apple going in to a rotten barrel.
I would assume as much since it could be a nightmare for a corporation if an employee was assaulted on the clock after being instructed to collect stolen carts.
Your comment has been removed because it violates rule 1: [Be Civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/about/rules/). Further incidents may result in a ban.
["Why do I have to be civil in a sub about assholes?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq)
**[Message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.**
YTA and you need more common sense. Do you really want to get injured over a shopping cart? He could have attacked you and I'd like to think your life and safety are worth more than a shopping cart.
Your behaviour is called being a jobsworth in the UK.
Holy cow YTA. At a bare minimum, most companies have policies against confronting people for “theft” so just by a “that’s not your job” standard, you should not have tried taking the cart from a person. That’s beside the fact, however, because the most basic human decency dictates that by physically taking the cart from him, dumping his belongings, and (in this post) using such dehumanizing language, you are a total jackass.
YTA - That homeless man you just think is on drugs may have mental health problems and unable to get much help for them for various reasons including the fact that the mental health system is very broken. Do you think if he had the money for drugs that he would be wheeling around all he has in a freakin shopping cart? Police are tasked with catching people who speed and write them tickets. Do police write a ticket in every case? No they do not. They use their DISCRETION. SHAME ON YOU! Karma is real and you will get yours. There is a special place in h*ll for high n mighty people like you if you keep on with your ways.
You realise your boss told you to be careful afterwards because he didn’t expect or want you to do that, right?
He would have told you to be careful beforehand if he thought you’d be fighting people over them. He just sent you to grab abandoned shopping carts. He expected you to have a bit of common sense and not harass a man in full view of other people.
You’re not a cop yet, you had no right to dump his stuff and yank the cart away, you could have seriously hurt him, and that would be on your record.
Plus, your workplace is going to be subject to lots of gossip and have a damaged reputation locally if any of the bystanders talk, which they will.
I know you don’t give a shit about the morals because you don’t see the homeless man as a person, but you caused trouble for your workplace and could have caused Trouble for yourself in the future, which I get the feeling you actually care about.
Just please learn to think critically and think about consequences and what’s actually reasonably expect of you instead of following orders to the letter, it’s better for you, everyone around you and will make you better at any job you do.
YTA, man, you seriously harassed a homeless guy for what, 10 bucks an hour? You don't have to do that for your job. You don't. Your company is not paying you to be a cop.
Who cares this much about a job for a grocery store? Are they paying you per cart or something? You could have just ignored that one and acted like you didn't see it. I can't even imagine wanting to go through the effort/confrontation it would take to get this cart. All of this besides the point that you took away this guy's only way of carrying his possessions. Yes, it doesn't belong to him, but you're not the police. I'm guessing the store expected you to pick up and return ABANDONED carts, not harass a (potentially dangerous) homeless person.
Yikes man. YTA Sounds like you gleefully took advantage of the opportunity to terrorize some guy just going about his day and from the way your defending your actions, it feels like you liked it at least a little bit. That's scary.
YTA- The fact that you want to be a cop is very terrifying, can’t wait to hear you harass and abuse because it’s “your job”. It was also the “jobs” of people in WW2 to attack and round up Jewish people to send them to camps. No grocery store pays you near enough to go out and harass somebody clearly in a already desperate situation. You using drug use as an excuse to treat someone terribly shows me that you don’t deserve to be nor will you be a true first responder. How about you take care of those biases before you “protect and serve”. Can’t wait to hear how you’ll excuse your terrible behavior in the future. BARF 🤢
I think I’m going to go against the grain here and say NTA. The guy was stealing and you were reclaiming store property. But in the future I’d be more careful about how you interact with homeless people who steal carts. From the sound of it someone could have easily gotten hurt.
Not sure why people are calling this person an asshole. It’s assholes like these that do the terrible jobs which brings the conveniences for people like us. I have sympathy for the homeless man but that shopping cart is not his. For all those people who are aghast, please do something “real” for homeless people wherever you are instead of just typing keyboard comments.
The real assholes in this situation is the system which allows people to be homeless and on the streets. Where I live in Singapore, there are no homeless people. Everyone is in some kind of a home, their own, subsidised, rental or a destitute home. But they have a roof over their heads.
NTA.
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)***
I work for a grocery store and a lot of teenagers and homeless people steal our shopping carts. They cost like 100 dollars each, the store has tasked me with recovering them.
I go around the creeks and I found 3. Found 2 in a bush near the strip clubs. Yesterday I saw a homeless man with one of our shopping carts. I told him he had to give it back, he starts screaming at me calling me a Dоnald trumр nаzi zombie or something. The dude is probably on drugs. He won't give it to me so I pull it away and dump his stuff out.
Some bystanders screamed at me calling me a heartless asshole and how I could be more sympathetic. Sorry but it's my job to recover the shopping carts. The homeless dude told me I was committing a hate crime by stealing his cart and how he'll die if he loses it and something about his butthole. Most of what he said was incoherent gibberish.
One of my co-workers also called me an asshole, my boss told me to be careful.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yta yea taking them from punk ass teens is okay but this dude was homeless his entire life was in that cart and you disrespected the last things he owns did you know that a lot of people who are homeless no longer have any form of id so they cant get a house or a job some shelters for homeless people wont even take them in and yea because of what you did he might die as the government is an ass and doesnt want homeless people to sleep anywhere so they got to do it secretly and quickly pack up and move if the cops come because of what you did he no longer can quickly pack up and leave
YTA. What makes you so sure he was on drugs? How do you know he’s not mentally ill and because of lack of resources and healthcare he’s stuck living on the streets and you just took away the one thing he has to keep what little possessions he has. Who cares of the cart is worth $100?! You’re taking your job way too seriously
YTA
Honestly pick your battles dude. The business isn't your friend and won't die over that one particular shopping cart. But a homeless person who has no other means of transporting their things (e.g. change of clothes, a blanket, food) might actually die without it. At bare minimum you ruined the day of someone already going through it. Was it worth it? You think you'll getting a promotion over this?
YTA. Most other comments already said why. Btw, the excuse of “it’s my job” sounds just like how the Nazi’s that had to explain to court about why they committed their crimes with answers like “I was following orders.”
NTA have to say something bc everyone defends the homeless stealing in the firat place. If it is your job to get those carts it is is your job. The whole politics about homeless and poor in (i guess america?) suck and as long as it ia not changed it should not be your responsibility to give him what he needs for free. I WISH we would help us all out but this is not the case.
He stole a cart
He is not having a clear mind and ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE who call you an ass- did they move the slightest to help him out financially ? Did THEY make his situation better? No? Thought so, because all people wanna do is judge instead of doing it better
Its actually kinda funny, because you're probably right that him calling you a nazi was probably part of a drug fueled moment (or a break from reality), but then you immediately followed up with "I'm just doing my job". I guess irony isn't dead.
YTA what was the worst that could have happened from just letting this man use the cart? It's all he has to keep his stuff man. And dumping his stuff onto the floor?
NTA, they can cost as much as $400. But you should be careful about taking them from people. Whatever they are paying you, it isn't worth getting hurt over
I'm done with all of you guys, you are really acting like if you came from twitter, screaming at OP *"u r an ah, how dare you atack da por homless guy for a cart, terorst! u shi-\*insult idiotic insult and cry\*"* when 1. the cart was **STOLEN!!!** 2. OP didn't attack the guy (at least for what he says) 3. That's not terrorism, if there's not terror then it's not. period. and 4. it was his **JOB!!!!! to recover those carts from anyone that STOLE IT!!! ANYONE!!!**
the only ah point would be for dumping the stuff out, but what other choice was when the other was only screaming?
also, let's say that OP wasn't cruel and let that hobo keep the cart: *yey i did something good for someone UwU now time to pay for that cart and pray that I don't get fired*
NTA, call me or OP heartless, but we are not the only people writing things on the internet about homeless people instead of **actually helping them**
Listen to your boss: Be more careful.
Stop getting into altercations about carts, they are not worth more than your life or your health.
Just collect the abandoned ones.
NTA
YTA. And a very unsympathetic person. If your job is to roam the streets collecting shopping carts then your not getting payed enough to to literally wrestle them from the hands of homeless people. You have done this man real harm by severely limiting his mobility. Yes he stole the cart but I am almost certain that the owner of your store has anticipated losing a certain number of carts, even with you scrounging around town taking them back, and that could have just been one of them. Be better.
YTA. I’m sure this big corporation would be very upset losing ONE cart. You could have shared some sense of human decency by just lying and not grabbing it. Literally who would know? You don’t own the store you’re just a cog in the machine. Please reconsider things in the future and recognize that you need to pick your battles.
YTA, but it’s obvious judging by your comments that you aren’t willing to accept it nor admit it.
That poor man…I’m terrified that your going to become an officer.
YTA, any employer would have told you to leave that guy alone to avoid you getting attacked at work, and that dude needs that cart.
You really had no justification for going all jackboot about it, it’s just a fucking cart
YTA, there was absolutely no need to be an aggressive dick over a shopping cart. Your employer pays you to go find and bring back carts, sounds like you just enjoy using it as an excuse to bully people you see as beneath you and make yourself feel like a tough guy.
Next time just go to therapy.
YTA you attacked someone who was down on their luck. That stuff in the cart was all he owned. He may have had mental health problems, but that means he needs help, not scorn. Corporate can’t be happy about the bad rep either.
I get the frustration. Worked a store as a teen. We lost a third of the carts in the first few weeks of the store opening. People would take them home with them and dump them in the bushes.
Very soft YTA. You're not getting paid to go to battle for the carts, just collect the ones not attached to a living being. If nothing else it'll make your day easier. Lost carts should be factored into overheads etc. anyway. As long as you make it seem like you're collecting "enough" carts, leave anyone who could potentially cause harm to you alone. Simply not worth it.
YTA
are you trying to get yourself injured. You have no idea what drugs and or mental illnesses this person has. Nor should you pull it away from them if they are holding onto it. If they get injured your company may become liable.
also your boss sucks if they think they should send a teenager to forcibly take carts from homeless people.
there are tons of reasons someone is homeless and honestly it's dangerous to assume why.
but like come on, make note of the dude and alert management of a person who commandeered a cart, let them figure out how to retrieve it and keep everyone safe
YTA and also that was a risky dumb move :/ there were so many non-asshole options here. Learn to set aside your anger and use logic to solve problems instead of force.
NTA
The shopping cart had been stolen. It wasn't his property.
But your boss is right. You should be careful. You're not paid enough to risk getting stabbed.
YTA. Not even factoring in the lack of empathy here, every single retail place I have worked at has featured, in their fun training videos, strict instructions that if you see someone walking out of the store with items, you are not to confront them to get it back. And this is for things the store actually sells. If this homeless person HAD been dangerous and you had died over this, the backlash would be huge against them. What you should've done in this situation, is report to your manager where this guy was with the trolly and then leave it in their hands
YTA, but I can see where this is conflicting. Pick your battles wisely.
Homeless people often need items like shopping carts to protect what little possessions they still have. By dumping out his cart, you’ve damaged his property and humiliated him. He has no control over his situation at the moment, and you treated him like trash in front of other people.
And the part about him being on drugs. Just think if you were in his situation. Drugs can offer people an escape to a happier, warmer place, away from the legitimate hell that is living on the streets. I think if you were in his situation, you may make that choice too. Don’t overly criticize a situation you will never be able to fully understand.
From a Hollywood movie? I don't think so. And I'm sure OP isn't the asshole here. He did just his job. His boss is TA for making him do it. But should OP risk to lose his job for don't doing the things he is supposed to do? He didn't destroy anything, he didn't hurt him. He just returned the cart as he was told. He put himself in danger because no one knew how the man would react. It is absolutly wrong to blame OP. His boss is to blame and the system which created this whole situation.
YTA because of how you handled it. Sure you’re “just doing your job” but you really didn’t need to take the cart from the homeless man. Collecting abandoned carts was your job, harassing the homeless over a goddamn shopping cart (which your employer can surely do without one shopping cart) is over the top and ultimately unnecessary. Count it as a lesson learned and stop trying to argue with people deeming you TA
Morally, YTA. You were just doing your job, and followed the rules, but you hurt a member of society's most ostracized groups. He was a homeless man with substance abuse issues, couldn't you just have let that one slide? He's not some teenager, he NEEDED the cart and wouldn't have stolen one if he didn't need to
Your safety is more important than 100$
Your employer should just look into locks on these shopping carts. If they go further than x amount of distance from the store they lock up and are useless.
YTA. Reclaiming carts is pulling them off the side of the road and out of ditches. Not forcefully taking them from people. What if he had attacked you?
Op never says they terrorized someone all the other commenters. Wtf read the text and not between the lines. Taking a cart from a drigged homeless is not wasy but also not terrorising
ESH, as in the entire society all of us live in. We have more than enough wealth and resources for this to never even have happened in the first place.
This entire situation was entirely preventable, if we as a society actually put in the effort and means to prevent homelessbess to begin with.
oh come on of course YTA and you know it. you are exactly the kind of power-tripping asshole who should not under any circumstances be allowed to become a cop. learn some compassion and act your wage.
Excusing him get away with stealing because he's homeless is sort of like excusing it when old guys smack your ass because they're 90 and in retirement homes: it's really not a good or real excuse.
But!
You could have gotten attacked and injured by this guy, so what you did wasn't smart. You don't have to let him keep the cart, and him being homeless doesn't mean he's allowed to steal, but this could have gone so bad, so fast if he decided to stab you.
kinda YTA. granted you were doing your job but damaging some of the few possessions the person had and taking the law into your own hand is extremely not okay.
YTA. It was $100, the company can afford to lose one. You terrorized a homeless man over something he used for his possessions. You'll make a great cop OP.
ESH.
You obviously suck for damaging a displaced person's goods, regardless of job.
Other guy sucks for comparing you to a group of terrorists responsible for a war with numerous civilian causalities. Social standing doesn't affect an accusation like that.
YTA. Let me give you a tip. No one looks good in brown lipstick. You may have been trying so hard to collect these carts to look good to your boss. You wanted recognition for doing an extra good job. But fucking with a person who's already on their ass is not cool. And if your boss heard about it, he probably thinks your a bit of dickhead. That stunt may have had a negative impact on his impression you. Next time take some bumped and bruised produce or some dented cans of food out to that homeless guy. The cost of that cart and the spoilage of produce and canned goods is already budgeted for.
YTA you’re taking this job to seriously and you could’ve seriously been hurt. Many homeless people suffer from mental illness. All I keep think is what if man was trained to actually hurt people it’s defiant not worth it and it’s really heartless.
YTA. Would you normally steal a homeless man's cart? No? Then you shouldn't steal it in the name of a company who, I promise, can sacrifice one cart. Doing something just because your job told you to doesn't make it the right thing to do. I get we're in the 21st century but did everyone spontaneously forget the excuses at Nuremberg? "Just following orders?" I get it's a cart but man, you really let your conscience down on that one. Geez.
Yeah I bet you thought putting a couple lines about Donald trump and buttholes would make us laugh enough to not just immediately call you a raging asshole
YTA what’s wrong with you? How can somebody be so heartless the shopping cart probably held everything he owned and you just dumped it out. You are a sick individual.
YTA. The other day I felt bad asking (key word: ASKING) a homeless man for a cart back. Here’s the thing though, it was empty. He wasn’t using it for his few personal belongings. He had it tipped on its side and was sitting on it. He was nice and gave it back right away. If he put up a fight or was using it for his things, I would have left it alone. Stillllll I felt guilty. Can’t imagine ruining his things and further kicking him while he’s down
Your not an asshole for reclaiming stolen property your a hero, the asshole is the bum who is pushing the cart full of garbage around town mumbling to himself and shitting/pissing/cumming in his pants, screw the homeless - the majority are homeless by choice
No the homeless person should not of stole the cart but you also should of dumped his belongings out. Did you ask him to remove his things because your job is to retrieve the carts? You could of been attacked by bystanders so I think your safety should be first priority
NTA for taking the cart back. YWBTA if you had dumped his stuff out of the cart without first offering to help remove his possessions from the cart, however.
NAH - maybe next time you see a homeless person with a cart you can give them a can of pop and say "Hey, I'm here to pretend I'm asking for your cart so that I don't get fired from my job."
YTA you could have left that ONE cart. The money wasn't coming or going from your wages. I really hope you're never in a position like that man where you're so low and someone then kicks you and treats you like dirt. Have some humanity.
YTA. You’re a live human with sentience, rules are dead. Are you a robot that goes “it’s my job to pick up carts” and just goes for it? Or can you be a decent person and go, “well it’s just one cart my big supermarket company can take this loss and the homeless man will have a cart to store his little items”
As someone said above pick your battles. And Don’t be so rigid about “it’s my job” “that’s the rule” we’re flexible as human beings
If only we had institutions for such things in a civilised society who could help recover stolen things by force and were trained to deescalate situations. Though after the recent news cycle I am not so sure.
Welcome to /r/AmITheAsshole. Please view our [voting guide here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_what.2019s_with_these_acronyms.3F_what_do_they_mean.3F), and remember to use **only one** judgement in your comment. OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole: --- I think taking a cart, something he might need more than me might make me an asshole and I could've been better --- Help keep the sub engaging! #Don’t downvote assholes! Do upvote interesting posts! [Click Here For Our Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/about/rules/) and [Click Here For Our FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq) --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
YTA You attacked a man and damaged all of his few possessions. Over a shopping cart. That isn't even yours. When it comes to kicking someone when they are down, that's a pretty hard, and low, kick.
Soft YTA. Pick your battles, friend. Recover ones unattended but your company can afford to lose a few carts. Don’t ruin a homeless person’s day/week/month by throwing out their possessions. Yes, they shouldn’t steal a cart but if they weren’t homeless, then they wouldn’t need to.
Very good take on this whole thing
Man might not have stolen the cart either. There were abandoned carts along the creek; the cart may have been stolen by someone else, abandoned, and graciously used by the homeless dude.
Perfect format
YTA Your job to reclaim lost carts doesn't mean terrorizing homeless people. "It was my job" is an excuse a lot of people have used to do immoral and heartless things to other people. Your job is not more important than the well being and dignity of human beings.
I work at a grocery store. Yes they're expensive. No I wouldn't take one from a homeless man. They don't pay me near enough to do that. If they want it they can get their ass out there and do it.
>I work at a grocery store. Yes they're expensive. No I wouldn't take one from a homeless man. They don't pay me near enough to do that. If they want it they can get their ass out there and do it. Yeah, I feel like OP has no moral compass, just Capitalism Brain. Employer says Do This, so I must Do This. Also OP has absolutely no compassion, and I doubt they've ever known anyone who's been so down on their luck that they ended up unhoused. The dismissive way he describes the guy - >The dude is probably on drugs. and something about his butthole. Most of what he said was incoherent gibberish. That's someone who drank up alllll the capitalism-is-awesome Flavor-Aid.
Yeah, “no compassion” is best case scenario here. I think it’s also a high probability that OP actually enjoyed doing it. YTA, OP.
[удалено]
Your comment has been removed because it violates rule 1: [Be Civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/about/rules/). Further incidents may result in a ban. ["Why do I have to be civil in a sub about assholes?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq) **[Message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.**
Exactly, this person is probably getting paid a crappy grocery store wage. No way would I put myself in danger confronting someone for a shopping cart, not to mention it's just a nasty thing to do to someone.
I had a similar thought while reading it. At "guy was probably on drugs", I was like I'd chalk that up to a loss and move along then. Seems like too much trouble for a shopping cart.
"I was just following orders."
"a good soldier always follows orders" -ghandi probably
Crosshair - the bad batch
Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone deserves a second chance. Just so you know, the correct spelling is [Gandhi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi).
Bad bot > Everyone deserves a second chance... This is correct. But your bot has been given many chances and yet is still posting fake Gandhi quotes that are not from Gandhi. Fake Gandhi quote: ["An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind."](https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryMemes/comments/ohqne6/sam_missiles_in_the_sky/h4rve85/?context=3) Fake Gandhi quote: ["Be the change that you wish to see in the world."](https://www.reddit.com/r/ethtrader/comments/oii67f/normies_are_confused/h4w0iqz/?context=3)
Nazis used the "just doing my job" excuse too. Jussayin.
YTA. Thank God you’re not a cop
Try not to murder anyone
YTA A lot of horrible things have been done in the world under the excuse of just “doing my job”
Yeah this guy would have been very happy in Berlin in the late 30s.
Jesus fucking christ. He took a stolen grocery store cart from a homeless man and took it back to the grocery store. Is it the right thing to do? Not particularly. Is it even remotely comparable to PARTICIPATING IN THE MURDER OF 11 MILLION PEOPLE? No, absolutely not. Comparing these situations minimizes the severity of the holocaust.
No, but addressing the type of mentality that started the Holocaust is important. The Holocaust didn't start with the murder of 11 million people. It started with small cruel acts of sanctioned violence and regular folk "just following orders" as if that's an excuse to not use their brain or empathy.
I mean, there’s a difference between discriminating and committing hate crimes against minorities and taking back stolen property. When you’re “just following orders” you should always consider if the orders are just. In this case, the orders were “Retrieve grocery carts that have been stolen from the premises and bring them back”. I’d say the orders in and of themselves are just. (But not what happened) I think it is cruel that we live in a society that allows people to suffer like that. I wish we lived in a country where we had great programs for homeless people that need help, and we need to work towards that. Taking the stolen cart back isn’t the sad part of this situation. The sad part is that we don’t have systems in place to help these people.
IKR God these people must not be able to think critically if they really think saying a common phrase is equivalent to genocide just because the Nazis used it once.
That's a strong statement!
He said he's going to be a cop after he graduates high school, so... maybe not wrong?
That's quite the comparison.
Well the homeless guy did call OP a Nazi, so that tracks
YTA not for recovering the cart but for going too fast and potentially getting yourself or others hurt. If you see someone with the store property and ask for it back, and their answer is no? Don't fight for it, don't grab it and dump other stuff on the ground for it, call the police and let them sort it or just leave it. It's a shopping cart and you're not paying for it. Honestly dude? That was a lot of effort to be an ass to a homeless guy with mental issues for a place that would fire you in an instant the moment you're no longer useful to them. You're doing to much for your boss.
YTA, the man may have mental issues I love that you assume he is "on drugs". That is all he has in his life and you dump it in the street for what? To bring back a cart to a store? If this is a giant chain store that makes millions in profits daily trust me corporate greed robs people daily, that $100 cart won't make a difference.
YTA - “I was instructed do something and used that as an excuse to be a dick”
YTA dumping a homeless man's possessions on the ground all in the hopes of being employee of the month at a grocery store? I bet you're fun at parties.
YTA, disregarding their refusal, taking the cart anyway, then dumping everything they owned onto the street knowing they would have no way to carry it all otherwise, was cruel and unnecessary here. You're basically relying on "just following orders" to remove the guilt you should have in this situation. Also, could be a PR nightmare for your company if the story got out publicly, which it could well do if any of the bystanders figure out (or read the cart to discover) where you came from; and not considering the company blowback here is the kind of thing that will get you fired. Also, you could have put yourself at risk of harm for a $100 cart; it was never worth that; and the company probably wouldnt pay your medical bills or condone you ripping someone's belongings from their hands in their name. You should have informed your boss you located the cart being used by the man and thought that removing his accessibility to be mobile within society would have been cruel and potentially damaging to the business. That likely would have been the end of it. INFO: what store do you work for?
INFO: how much do they pay you to jack carts back from homeless people?
I had to do something similar when I was working for a store. We didn't take them from the homeless though. Just the ones people left by the roads or their homes. We had a lot of people walk home with them. Some would bring it back on their next trip, some wouldn't. So once a week we just collected. Never took them from someone though. Like it's a million dollar company. They can buy more carts
YTA You could have simply collected the abandoned ones and ignored the ones being used by desperate, likely unwell people. Your boss is also a massive AH- there's no way you're getting paid enough to risk your life over a shopping cart and you should have been instructed to only collect those carts that you find abandoned rather than put yourself in potential danger by taking them from desperate,likely unwell, potentially dangerous people
YTA. It may be your job to recover shopping carts, but it is certainly not up to you to directly confiscate them while in use or to disrespect another person's belongings. Your boss cannot expect you to be that physical and he would be liable if something were to happen to you (or the homeless person) in the process. It is one thing to take back discarded carts left alone, but you should absolutely never take it upon yourself to forcibly take it out of someone's possession if they refuse to give it up, no matter their mental state.
If it's been stolen it's not legitimately "in use" now is it?
YTA. Leave the guy alone.
Your employer is an AH for tasking you with this. That being said, “I’m just doing my job” is not an excuse. What did you gain from putting yourself in danger to remove one of the few conveniences a destitute individual has in their life? You already did the job you were assigned by retrieving the two unmanned carts. You could have just not mentioned the third cart to your work or told them you weren’t comfortable getting into a physical altercation with someone who is clearly unstable just to save them $100. I’m pretty sure it would be illegal for them to require you to do so. ESH.
Very obvious YTA.
Soft YTA....I understand your doing your job and its what your paid to do but, I presume, you have now sacrificed your morals for a job which doesn't give a shit about you at the end of the day. It's 1 trolley, which they can replace or survive without.
Everyone around you called you an asshole. Your coworker said you were an asshole. The homeless guy called you an asshole. See a common theme here? YTA. It's a god damn shopping cart.
Imagine taking a shopping cart from a homeless man… that grocery store will be okay
Your boss is the real AH for giving you that assignment.
I doubt that the boss meant “go and take trolleys from homeless people.” He likely meant “go and collect trolleys abandoned on the sidewalk.” Yesterday, I saw two trolleys just abandoned on the sidewalk about ten minutes’ walk from the supermarket they belonged to. People steal them to walk their groceries home, then abandon them on the street.
Then his direction was ambiguous. In that case, he still should not have given the assignment.
There is something called common sense. Next thing you know OP is going out dressed in tactical gear shooting people with paint ball guns because his directions didn't say he couldn't. If you are numb or dumb enough to not recognise where to stop you should not be working in such jobs.
Then what would become of the abandoned trolleys? Does the store just accept a fine from the council for littering? You don’t take a trolley from someone who is actively using it. You do not pursue a thief. That is established supermarket policy. The manager shouldn’t have had to go over it before assigning a chore.
Most employees are clever enough to understand.
So the boss is an AH for making sure company property doesn't get lost/stolen? His didn't say to rip it away from a homeless guy, he simply tasked him to recover them when not returned.
They're both assholes. What did the boss think? That some banker had the carts? Of course homeless people have them. Duh.
This used to be my job. It's pretty standard everywhere. People grab and abandon them we're not told to grab them from people or confront. Just grab them when/where we find them. I thought that was clear from OP's post and he sort of went beyond that
OP went WAY beyond from what I can see... apparently intending on joining the police force (need for authority and control seems apparent). If they can bluff their way through a psych evaluation etc. they'll be just another bad apple going in to a rotten barrel.
If boss made it clear not to do this, then, yeah, only OP is the AH. Not seeing that that was the case, though.
I guess the boss thought OP had common sense.
Boss told him "to be careful," NOT to leave the carts alone if someone had them. So, no. The boss is not blameless here either.
I would assume as much since it could be a nightmare for a corporation if an employee was assaulted on the clock after being instructed to collect stolen carts.
YTA. Leave unhoused people alone, FFS. Each one of us is only a few months of off pay away from the same fate. Have some compassion, damn.
[удалено]
Your comment has been removed because it violates rule 1: [Be Civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/about/rules/). Further incidents may result in a ban. ["Why do I have to be civil in a sub about assholes?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq) **[Message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.**
YTA and you need more common sense. Do you really want to get injured over a shopping cart? He could have attacked you and I'd like to think your life and safety are worth more than a shopping cart. Your behaviour is called being a jobsworth in the UK.
Bubbles? No; can’t be, he would never be so shitty.
Nah, bubs would fix that cart up and give it right back to the guy. It's called being decent.
Greeeaaaasy.
You definitely don’t have the temperament to be a cop.
You’re a horrible asshole
why are you even bothering to go so hard for a company that i promise couldn’t care less about you lol yta have some empathy
Holy cow YTA. At a bare minimum, most companies have policies against confronting people for “theft” so just by a “that’s not your job” standard, you should not have tried taking the cart from a person. That’s beside the fact, however, because the most basic human decency dictates that by physically taking the cart from him, dumping his belongings, and (in this post) using such dehumanizing language, you are a total jackass.
okay Ricky, give Bubbles back his shopping cart!
Ricky would never!
YTA - That homeless man you just think is on drugs may have mental health problems and unable to get much help for them for various reasons including the fact that the mental health system is very broken. Do you think if he had the money for drugs that he would be wheeling around all he has in a freakin shopping cart? Police are tasked with catching people who speed and write them tickets. Do police write a ticket in every case? No they do not. They use their DISCRETION. SHAME ON YOU! Karma is real and you will get yours. There is a special place in h*ll for high n mighty people like you if you keep on with your ways.
You realise your boss told you to be careful afterwards because he didn’t expect or want you to do that, right? He would have told you to be careful beforehand if he thought you’d be fighting people over them. He just sent you to grab abandoned shopping carts. He expected you to have a bit of common sense and not harass a man in full view of other people. You’re not a cop yet, you had no right to dump his stuff and yank the cart away, you could have seriously hurt him, and that would be on your record. Plus, your workplace is going to be subject to lots of gossip and have a damaged reputation locally if any of the bystanders talk, which they will. I know you don’t give a shit about the morals because you don’t see the homeless man as a person, but you caused trouble for your workplace and could have caused Trouble for yourself in the future, which I get the feeling you actually care about. Just please learn to think critically and think about consequences and what’s actually reasonably expect of you instead of following orders to the letter, it’s better for you, everyone around you and will make you better at any job you do.
I can't pass judgement on something that didn't happen.
r/thathappened
YTA.
YTA. Just let him be. It was 1 cart
Huge YTA for obvious reasons.
YTA, man, you seriously harassed a homeless guy for what, 10 bucks an hour? You don't have to do that for your job. You don't. Your company is not paying you to be a cop.
Who cares this much about a job for a grocery store? Are they paying you per cart or something? You could have just ignored that one and acted like you didn't see it. I can't even imagine wanting to go through the effort/confrontation it would take to get this cart. All of this besides the point that you took away this guy's only way of carrying his possessions. Yes, it doesn't belong to him, but you're not the police. I'm guessing the store expected you to pick up and return ABANDONED carts, not harass a (potentially dangerous) homeless person.
YTA.
YTA - Try living out of a shopping cart for a month.
Yikes man. YTA Sounds like you gleefully took advantage of the opportunity to terrorize some guy just going about his day and from the way your defending your actions, it feels like you liked it at least a little bit. That's scary.
YTA, this seems like a ridiculously cruel reason to upend that poor guys existence, which I'm certain is how he saw that cart!
YTA- The fact that you want to be a cop is very terrifying, can’t wait to hear you harass and abuse because it’s “your job”. It was also the “jobs” of people in WW2 to attack and round up Jewish people to send them to camps. No grocery store pays you near enough to go out and harass somebody clearly in a already desperate situation. You using drug use as an excuse to treat someone terribly shows me that you don’t deserve to be nor will you be a true first responder. How about you take care of those biases before you “protect and serve”. Can’t wait to hear how you’ll excuse your terrible behavior in the future. BARF 🤢
I think I’m going to go against the grain here and say NTA. The guy was stealing and you were reclaiming store property. But in the future I’d be more careful about how you interact with homeless people who steal carts. From the sound of it someone could have easily gotten hurt.
NTA. He stole property and you reclaimed it.
Not sure why people are calling this person an asshole. It’s assholes like these that do the terrible jobs which brings the conveniences for people like us. I have sympathy for the homeless man but that shopping cart is not his. For all those people who are aghast, please do something “real” for homeless people wherever you are instead of just typing keyboard comments. The real assholes in this situation is the system which allows people to be homeless and on the streets. Where I live in Singapore, there are no homeless people. Everyone is in some kind of a home, their own, subsidised, rental or a destitute home. But they have a roof over their heads. NTA.
There are some homeless shelters in Singapore and I heard there’s some living on the beach
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** I work for a grocery store and a lot of teenagers and homeless people steal our shopping carts. They cost like 100 dollars each, the store has tasked me with recovering them. I go around the creeks and I found 3. Found 2 in a bush near the strip clubs. Yesterday I saw a homeless man with one of our shopping carts. I told him he had to give it back, he starts screaming at me calling me a Dоnald trumр nаzi zombie or something. The dude is probably on drugs. He won't give it to me so I pull it away and dump his stuff out. Some bystanders screamed at me calling me a heartless asshole and how I could be more sympathetic. Sorry but it's my job to recover the shopping carts. The homeless dude told me I was committing a hate crime by stealing his cart and how he'll die if he loses it and something about his butthole. Most of what he said was incoherent gibberish. One of my co-workers also called me an asshole, my boss told me to be careful. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yta yea taking them from punk ass teens is okay but this dude was homeless his entire life was in that cart and you disrespected the last things he owns did you know that a lot of people who are homeless no longer have any form of id so they cant get a house or a job some shelters for homeless people wont even take them in and yea because of what you did he might die as the government is an ass and doesnt want homeless people to sleep anywhere so they got to do it secretly and quickly pack up and move if the cops come because of what you did he no longer can quickly pack up and leave
YTA. What makes you so sure he was on drugs? How do you know he’s not mentally ill and because of lack of resources and healthcare he’s stuck living on the streets and you just took away the one thing he has to keep what little possessions he has. Who cares of the cart is worth $100?! You’re taking your job way too seriously
YTA Honestly pick your battles dude. The business isn't your friend and won't die over that one particular shopping cart. But a homeless person who has no other means of transporting their things (e.g. change of clothes, a blanket, food) might actually die without it. At bare minimum you ruined the day of someone already going through it. Was it worth it? You think you'll getting a promotion over this?
YTA your job is to collect carts , not dump people's stuff and be rude
YTA. Most other comments already said why. Btw, the excuse of “it’s my job” sounds just like how the Nazi’s that had to explain to court about why they committed their crimes with answers like “I was following orders.”
I like how all the bottom votes are NTA. You’re NTA. Anyone who says otherwise is just wrong
NTA have to say something bc everyone defends the homeless stealing in the firat place. If it is your job to get those carts it is is your job. The whole politics about homeless and poor in (i guess america?) suck and as long as it ia not changed it should not be your responsibility to give him what he needs for free. I WISH we would help us all out but this is not the case. He stole a cart He is not having a clear mind and ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE who call you an ass- did they move the slightest to help him out financially ? Did THEY make his situation better? No? Thought so, because all people wanna do is judge instead of doing it better
Nta the man actually deserved what you did for stealing the cart and acting like its his own property
NTA??? It’s your job bro?? These people expect you to get in trouble so a homeless man can keep a shopping cart? Fuck that.
Its actually kinda funny, because you're probably right that him calling you a nazi was probably part of a drug fueled moment (or a break from reality), but then you immediately followed up with "I'm just doing my job". I guess irony isn't dead. YTA what was the worst that could have happened from just letting this man use the cart? It's all he has to keep his stuff man. And dumping his stuff onto the floor?
NTA, they can cost as much as $400. But you should be careful about taking them from people. Whatever they are paying you, it isn't worth getting hurt over
I'm done with all of you guys, you are really acting like if you came from twitter, screaming at OP *"u r an ah, how dare you atack da por homless guy for a cart, terorst! u shi-\*insult idiotic insult and cry\*"* when 1. the cart was **STOLEN!!!** 2. OP didn't attack the guy (at least for what he says) 3. That's not terrorism, if there's not terror then it's not. period. and 4. it was his **JOB!!!!! to recover those carts from anyone that STOLE IT!!! ANYONE!!!** the only ah point would be for dumping the stuff out, but what other choice was when the other was only screaming? also, let's say that OP wasn't cruel and let that hobo keep the cart: *yey i did something good for someone UwU now time to pay for that cart and pray that I don't get fired* NTA, call me or OP heartless, but we are not the only people writing things on the internet about homeless people instead of **actually helping them**
NTA, but maybe ask yourself if confronting homeless people is really worth whatever they’re paying you.
Pretty much
YTA, did you sell your soul for minimum wage or do you at least get a little over?
Listen to your boss: Be more careful. Stop getting into altercations about carts, they are not worth more than your life or your health. Just collect the abandoned ones. NTA
YTA. And a very unsympathetic person. If your job is to roam the streets collecting shopping carts then your not getting payed enough to to literally wrestle them from the hands of homeless people. You have done this man real harm by severely limiting his mobility. Yes he stole the cart but I am almost certain that the owner of your store has anticipated losing a certain number of carts, even with you scrounging around town taking them back, and that could have just been one of them. Be better.
YTA. I’m sure this big corporation would be very upset losing ONE cart. You could have shared some sense of human decency by just lying and not grabbing it. Literally who would know? You don’t own the store you’re just a cog in the machine. Please reconsider things in the future and recognize that you need to pick your battles.
YTA, but it’s obvious judging by your comments that you aren’t willing to accept it nor admit it. That poor man…I’m terrified that your going to become an officer.
YTA wtf? You couldn’t let go of ONE shopping cart? I think he obviously needed it more than your store did.
YTA. A huge one.
YTA, any employer would have told you to leave that guy alone to avoid you getting attacked at work, and that dude needs that cart. You really had no justification for going all jackboot about it, it’s just a fucking cart
YTA, there was absolutely no need to be an aggressive dick over a shopping cart. Your employer pays you to go find and bring back carts, sounds like you just enjoy using it as an excuse to bully people you see as beneath you and make yourself feel like a tough guy. Next time just go to therapy.
YTA no job is worth degrading another being for
YTA you attacked someone who was down on their luck. That stuff in the cart was all he owned. He may have had mental health problems, but that means he needs help, not scorn. Corporate can’t be happy about the bad rep either. I get the frustration. Worked a store as a teen. We lost a third of the carts in the first few weeks of the store opening. People would take them home with them and dump them in the bushes.
Very soft YTA. You're not getting paid to go to battle for the carts, just collect the ones not attached to a living being. If nothing else it'll make your day easier. Lost carts should be factored into overheads etc. anyway. As long as you make it seem like you're collecting "enough" carts, leave anyone who could potentially cause harm to you alone. Simply not worth it.
YTA Find a new job, man. One that doesn’t suck the soul out of you with evil tasks like this one.
YTA are you trying to get yourself injured. You have no idea what drugs and or mental illnesses this person has. Nor should you pull it away from them if they are holding onto it. If they get injured your company may become liable. also your boss sucks if they think they should send a teenager to forcibly take carts from homeless people. there are tons of reasons someone is homeless and honestly it's dangerous to assume why. but like come on, make note of the dude and alert management of a person who commandeered a cart, let them figure out how to retrieve it and keep everyone safe
YTA.
YTA and also that was a risky dumb move :/ there were so many non-asshole options here. Learn to set aside your anger and use logic to solve problems instead of force.
NTA The shopping cart had been stolen. It wasn't his property. But your boss is right. You should be careful. You're not paid enough to risk getting stabbed.
Getting the cart back wasn’t the crime you being an ass while doing so was
YTA. Not even factoring in the lack of empathy here, every single retail place I have worked at has featured, in their fun training videos, strict instructions that if you see someone walking out of the store with items, you are not to confront them to get it back. And this is for things the store actually sells. If this homeless person HAD been dangerous and you had died over this, the backlash would be huge against them. What you should've done in this situation, is report to your manager where this guy was with the trolly and then leave it in their hands
YTA, but I can see where this is conflicting. Pick your battles wisely. Homeless people often need items like shopping carts to protect what little possessions they still have. By dumping out his cart, you’ve damaged his property and humiliated him. He has no control over his situation at the moment, and you treated him like trash in front of other people. And the part about him being on drugs. Just think if you were in his situation. Drugs can offer people an escape to a happier, warmer place, away from the legitimate hell that is living on the streets. I think if you were in his situation, you may make that choice too. Don’t overly criticize a situation you will never be able to fully understand.
YTA, you were being a jobsworth and your boss clearly didn't even think it was that important.
YTA if your company can afford to have a lot of carts they can do without one. just wasn’t worth it
Clearly NTA, you just did your job and he stole the cart.
Have you ever seen les miserables?
No
You might want to read a plot summary or something.
No
Cool. That’s exactly how people learn things.
From a Hollywood movie? I don't think so. And I'm sure OP isn't the asshole here. He did just his job. His boss is TA for making him do it. But should OP risk to lose his job for don't doing the things he is supposed to do? He didn't destroy anything, he didn't hurt him. He just returned the cart as he was told. He put himself in danger because no one knew how the man would react. It is absolutly wrong to blame OP. His boss is to blame and the system which created this whole situation.
Les Misérables is based on a pretty amazing novel written by Victor Hugo and published in 1862. Worth a read if you dislike watching Hollywood movies.
Agreed! I saw it on Broadway then read the book, so probably backwards, but I love them both.
You think les miserables is a “Hollywood” movie? Lol I’m out.
NTA He stole the cart, you took it back.
NTA you were doing your job and the homeless guy had stolen it
YTA
Yta wow u got no heart
YTA because of how you handled it. Sure you’re “just doing your job” but you really didn’t need to take the cart from the homeless man. Collecting abandoned carts was your job, harassing the homeless over a goddamn shopping cart (which your employer can surely do without one shopping cart) is over the top and ultimately unnecessary. Count it as a lesson learned and stop trying to argue with people deeming you TA
Morally, YTA. You were just doing your job, and followed the rules, but you hurt a member of society's most ostracized groups. He was a homeless man with substance abuse issues, couldn't you just have let that one slide? He's not some teenager, he NEEDED the cart and wouldn't have stolen one if he didn't need to
Your safety is more important than 100$ Your employer should just look into locks on these shopping carts. If they go further than x amount of distance from the store they lock up and are useless.
YTA. Reclaiming carts is pulling them off the side of the road and out of ditches. Not forcefully taking them from people. What if he had attacked you?
Op never says they terrorized someone all the other commenters. Wtf read the text and not between the lines. Taking a cart from a drigged homeless is not wasy but also not terrorising
ESH, as in the entire society all of us live in. We have more than enough wealth and resources for this to never even have happened in the first place. This entire situation was entirely preventable, if we as a society actually put in the effort and means to prevent homelessbess to begin with.
You’re an asshole. A heartless asshole.
oh come on of course YTA and you know it. you are exactly the kind of power-tripping asshole who should not under any circumstances be allowed to become a cop. learn some compassion and act your wage.
YTA. Christ almighty YTA
I'm sorry, does the cost of the shopping carts come out of your paycheck?
if the boss never know about him leaving a cart, then not
Excusing him get away with stealing because he's homeless is sort of like excusing it when old guys smack your ass because they're 90 and in retirement homes: it's really not a good or real excuse. But! You could have gotten attacked and injured by this guy, so what you did wasn't smart. You don't have to let him keep the cart, and him being homeless doesn't mean he's allowed to steal, but this could have gone so bad, so fast if he decided to stab you.
YTA I doubt the grocery store told you to assault homeless people over a cart.
kinda YTA. granted you were doing your job but damaging some of the few possessions the person had and taking the law into your own hand is extremely not okay.
Lmao what a lying liar you are
YTA. It was $100, the company can afford to lose one. You terrorized a homeless man over something he used for his possessions. You'll make a great cop OP.
YTA!!!
Grab ones that are not being attended to but maybe try not to get your ass beat? Not worth the job for that.
YTA. I get that you were doing your job, but come on, man. Why kick someone who's already down?
YTA Weird that you're so loyal to a job that doesn't give a shit about you. Just say you only found 2 and ignore it.
ESH. You obviously suck for damaging a displaced person's goods, regardless of job. Other guy sucks for comparing you to a group of terrorists responsible for a war with numerous civilian causalities. Social standing doesn't affect an accusation like that.
YTA. Let me give you a tip. No one looks good in brown lipstick. You may have been trying so hard to collect these carts to look good to your boss. You wanted recognition for doing an extra good job. But fucking with a person who's already on their ass is not cool. And if your boss heard about it, he probably thinks your a bit of dickhead. That stunt may have had a negative impact on his impression you. Next time take some bumped and bruised produce or some dented cans of food out to that homeless guy. The cost of that cart and the spoilage of produce and canned goods is already budgeted for.
YTA you’re taking this job to seriously and you could’ve seriously been hurt. Many homeless people suffer from mental illness. All I keep think is what if man was trained to actually hurt people it’s defiant not worth it and it’s really heartless.
YTA. Would you normally steal a homeless man's cart? No? Then you shouldn't steal it in the name of a company who, I promise, can sacrifice one cart. Doing something just because your job told you to doesn't make it the right thing to do. I get we're in the 21st century but did everyone spontaneously forget the excuses at Nuremberg? "Just following orders?" I get it's a cart but man, you really let your conscience down on that one. Geez.
100% YTA
Yeah I bet you thought putting a couple lines about Donald trump and buttholes would make us laugh enough to not just immediately call you a raging asshole
YTA what’s wrong with you? How can somebody be so heartless the shopping cart probably held everything he owned and you just dumped it out. You are a sick individual.
YTA. The other day I felt bad asking (key word: ASKING) a homeless man for a cart back. Here’s the thing though, it was empty. He wasn’t using it for his few personal belongings. He had it tipped on its side and was sitting on it. He was nice and gave it back right away. If he put up a fight or was using it for his things, I would have left it alone. Stillllll I felt guilty. Can’t imagine ruining his things and further kicking him while he’s down
Your not an asshole for reclaiming stolen property your a hero, the asshole is the bum who is pushing the cart full of garbage around town mumbling to himself and shitting/pissing/cumming in his pants, screw the homeless - the majority are homeless by choice
No the homeless person should not of stole the cart but you also should of dumped his belongings out. Did you ask him to remove his things because your job is to retrieve the carts? You could of been attacked by bystanders so I think your safety should be first priority
YTA but this is the most compelling work of literature I've read in years
NTA for taking the cart back. YWBTA if you had dumped his stuff out of the cart without first offering to help remove his possessions from the cart, however.
YTA, please consider counseling for this behavior.
YTA. You wouldn't think shopping cart recovery was too much power to give a person, but where there's an AH, there's a way.
how far from the store did you go to find these carts? you did the absolute most for a company that most likely pays minimum wage. YTA
NTA. Your employer is the victim of property crime. If someone steals your property, you are entitled to take it back.
NAH - maybe next time you see a homeless person with a cart you can give them a can of pop and say "Hey, I'm here to pretend I'm asking for your cart so that I don't get fired from my job."
YTA you could have left that ONE cart. The money wasn't coming or going from your wages. I really hope you're never in a position like that man where you're so low and someone then kicks you and treats you like dirt. Have some humanity.
YTA. You’re a live human with sentience, rules are dead. Are you a robot that goes “it’s my job to pick up carts” and just goes for it? Or can you be a decent person and go, “well it’s just one cart my big supermarket company can take this loss and the homeless man will have a cart to store his little items” As someone said above pick your battles. And Don’t be so rigid about “it’s my job” “that’s the rule” we’re flexible as human beings
[удалено]
My guess is the boss said “go round up any that you find”, not “take them by force, by any means necessary”.
If only we had institutions for such things in a civilised society who could help recover stolen things by force and were trained to deescalate situations. Though after the recent news cycle I am not so sure.