Volvo vs. Cart

Usually when I spend a small fortune on goodies from the commissary, the bagger loads up the cart and takes my purchases out to the car. They do this, not because they are sweet and efficient but because they work for tips. If they just bag your groceries and leave you to take the cart out, it is an automatic reduction of pay, so unless you ask them not to or they are super busy they load up the car for you and return the cart. If for some reason a bagger doesn't take your groceries out for you, you've got a cart issue on your hands. The commissary parking lot does not have a place to leave your cart once you are done with it. The baggers usually bring in a few extra from the lot when they are done delivering groceries, but there are always still a bunch of carts all over the parking lot waiting for someone to retrieve them or the wind to blow them into a car. When most people are done with their cart they just push it up to the front of their parking spot and roll out. How expensive can a cart corral be?
Since there is no cart corral, I usually return my cart to the front of the store. Again this is a little problematic because there isn't a place to park the carts out in front of the store. So, unless you are super helpful and decide to bring the cart in and then go around and come out the exit - you still leave a wild cart just parked willy nilly in front of the store.
What is with all this cart talk?
Today, I had a ton of groceries and the baggers were too busy to help me to the car. I somehow managed to lift the over stuffed grocery bags into my own car and then commissioned my nearly 9 year old to take the cart back to the store rather than leaving it in the lot. Before he took off I reminded him "be careful, watch for cars".
I started chatting with a friend in the parking lot and 30 seconds later I noticed some commotion down the aisle. A sweet Volvo XC90 (which I totally would love to add to my driveway) backed into a cart. Not just any cart, the cart that my baby boy was returning to the store.
Holy cow.
When I mentally arrived on scene the lady was apologizing profusely saying she didn't see him and asking if he was OK. He was OK, hardly fazed. He didn't scream or anything when the car started backing into him, he just backed the cart up to try to get out of the way. When he recounted what happened he said "mom I was watching and I didn't see her white lights".
I'm still confused about how someone driving a suped up European luxury car equipped with backup sensors can run into my son's cart, but whatever. I'm just so thankful that Eli wasn't hurt or even shaken up by the incident. In the hours following the incident I found myself thinking over and over again how easily this story could have had a different ending.
Thank you God for giving me that rascally little guy almost 9 years ago, and keeping him safe and healthy right up to today.

Comments

Rachael said…
Wow! So, so glad he is ok!

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