10/15/2025
Stop gatekeeping Caroline's Carts.
This shouldn’t even have to be said, but here we are: not all disabilities are visible. Caroline’s Carts exist so that disabled people; children and adults; who can’t use standard carts have a safe, dignified way to shop. Yet far too often, families are stared down, questioned, or outright blocked from using them by strangers who’ve decided they don’t “look disabled enough.”
It’s cruel. And it causes real harm. For many families, these carts are the difference between being able to run a basic errand and being forced to leave a store in tears. They aren’t a “perk.” They’re accessibility; the same way a ramp or automatic doors are.
If people can’t respect that, maybe stores should to start treating these carts more like Aldi carts; where you pay a small refundable deposit to unlock one? Not to profit off accessibility, but to make people think twice before grabbing one they don’t need and denying someone else access.
Disability doesn’t always look the way you think it does. And no one owes you proof to use adaptive equipment. Gatekeeping accessibility is still ableism; and it needs to stop.
