h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, in the U.S., we just call them shopping carts.

Anyways, there's a remarkable tendency for some homeless people to possess a shopping cart in the inner cities of the US. That doesn't happen in Europe? Anywhere?

It certainly happens in Australian cities. Often u will find a homeless person pushing a homeless trolley along full of homeless possesions.

Or could it be Homeless trolleys such as the ones cowering under the bridges in the UK, are dragging homeless people around in search of a better life? Away from the hussle of a day/night in the supermarket?

I even met one trolley who had found a new life as a mobile tool trolley in a motorwreckers. It was very dirty, full of screwdrivers and bolts, but seemed happy.

LOL! Maybe that's it. The shopping carts are dragging homeless people around so they look like they're inanimate objects.. and somehow, the homeless people have managed to put things inside of them... I wonder what happens to them as soon as the carts find something they're happy with?

Perhaps they get depressed because their shopping trolley has left them, jump off bridges and are re-incarnated as shopping trolleys?

..and then they emerge from the river as a trolley (I guess I'll start using that now..) and just hang around under the bridge for a little bit?

Yep - that's what happens... Until they find some homeless guy to hang around for a while, and then find somewhere they can be happy.

I love stories with happy endings.

Wow.. we've created a very cute story about trolleys..

Well, it only goes to show that you never know anything about what you take for granted until you look at it.

How very true..and deep...

Terry Pratchett covered this phenomenon in one of the discworld books.

The 'mall' lifeform attempted to set root at Ankh-Morpork. The wizards went in to deal with it. For the benefit of those who have not read the book, the following exchanges took place... (Block quoted without permission, but I think 'Reaper Man' (ISBN 0-552-13464-3) is one of the best in the series). The following is, of course, Copyright Terry Pratchett

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Behind them he heard the Dean say, 'I vote we work up Herpetty's Seismic Reorganiser, and lob it in through the door. No more problem'

'No! We're too close to the city walls! We just need to drop Quondom's Attractive Point in the right place'

'Or Sumpjumpers Incendiary Suprise, perhaps?' This was the Bursar's voice. 'Burn it out, it's the best way'

...

'What are you going to use?' said Ridcully, as the tolley rocketed through the steam. 'The Siesmic Reorganiser, the Attractive Point, or the Incendiary Suprise?'

'Yo,' said the Dean with satisfaction.

'What, all three at once?'

'Yo!'

'That's going a bit far, isn't it? And incidentally, if you say "yo" one more time, Dean, I will personally have you thrown out of the University, persued to the rim of the world by the finest demons that thaumaturgy can conjure up, torn into extremely small pieces, minced, turned into a mixture reminiscent of steak tartare, and turned out into a dog bowl'

'Y -' The Dean caught Ridcully's eye. 'Yes'

...

'And the spells you just said will go off ...'

'Any second now, Archchancellor'

'So... whatever's going to happen... is going to happen to us?'

I see.. so the trolley is just an offshoot of the mall? Like.. it's child?

Something like that, yes; Terry Pratchett saw them more as worker bees in a hive; and some had some rather unpleasant spikes on, and acted as security guards.

The man is disturbed. Genius, but quite mad.

Oh... I get it now... I remember his feelings about bees.. it all makes sense...

And then, when the trolleys get lost, they have to find some other work to do in order to fufill their sense of purpose! Ha!