Mother Who Sparked Outrage Over Not Returning Shopping Carts Speaks Out

“I do return my shopping cart all of the time but when my kids are in the car I’m not willing to put the cart back and be away from my children, even if it’s 20 seconds,” Dr. Leslie Dobson tells Inside Edition.

A woman who sparked outrage on social media after declaring she does not return her shopping carts is speaking out about the controversy.

Dr. Leslie Dobson, a psychologist from Long Beach, California tells Inside Edition that she does return her shopping carts.

"I do return my shopping cart all of the time, but when my kids are in the car, I’m not willing to put the cart back and be away from my children, even if it’s 20 seconds," she says.

Dobson’s original video on the subject has gone viral. To date, it has 12 million views and thousands of angry comments, including death threats.

"I received numerous death treats, like ‘You need to return your shopping cart,’ curse word, ‘or I will kill you.'" Dobson says. 

Dobson says she did not post her original video to TikTok just to go viral.

"I’ve had thousands of moms message me saying 'I came into the parking lot today and I looked over my shoulder just to be extra safe,' and that was the whole point," she says. "We can’t be too comfortable because we might be a victim.”

Related Stories