Disabilities of all kinds exist. There may be some that use the cart for balance or others that can't easily navigate places where there are cars (visual disability for example). Leaving the shopping cart at exit is easier if you get into a vehicle or mobility aid right at the exit, rather than going around.

It's funny because I've seen this same post before and half the comments were about disabled people. And here I was the first.

[–] theUnlikely@sopuli.xyz 2 points 10 months ago

I think the shopping cart theory needs to be a bit more fleshed out.

I had assumed it meant people leaving carts all over the parking lot, not right at the exit of the store. The problem is that carts being all over the lot often block spaces or can roll into people's cars and damage them. If the cart is left right at the exit, those problems go away. It's also very quick and easy for employees to grab them there. If the customer isn't parked out in the lot, it wouldn't make sense for them to be expected to take the cart farther away from the store just so that an employee can bring it right back.