The Misadventures of Carl by Allison E. '27

It was 2 pm on a warm summer Sunday. Fiona L. ‘27 and I were at Costco, and we had just missed the next shuttle back to campus. We’d already wandered around the shopping center–Dollar Tree, Michael’s, Ulta Beauty–and we were on our way back through the Home Depot parking lot when we spotted it: an orange shopping cart. And alright, to be fair, the Home Depot parking lot is filled with orange shopping carts, but this one wasn’t the typical metal-framed basket–it was plastic, and slightly larger.

an invasive shopping cart caught in the wild

We pulled the errant shopping cart from the grasp of its adopted siblings, and checked the logo. Big Lots! The brand sounded vaguely familiar, so we looked it up, and apparently, Big Lots went bankrupt a while ago and closed all its stores. Sad for them, of course, and also sad for this poor, orphaned shopping cart. Not sad at all for me, however, because that meant the cart had no legal guardian. And I have ALWAYS wanted a shopping cart. Ever since I got too big to sit in the fold-out shopping cart seat, I have yearned for the joys of cart-based transportation. I was never bold enough to sit my entire 18-year-old self in a Costco cart in public, but if I had my own shopping cart? The possibilities were endless. Many types of carts exist in the world, but none are designed with the maneuverability to navigate crowded grocery aisles, or with the rugged sturdiness necessary to survive the abuse of hundreds of children. I could transport boxes and groceries and people and any manner of shenanigan-worthy objects any time I wanted. And since this cart was orphaned, we were Legally™ allowed take it!

Jk, we went into the Home Depot and asked them if we could take the cart. Luckily, they couldn’t have cared less, so… permission secured!

There was only one problem. We were at Costco. Campus was five miles away. And we did not have a car.

But never fear! What we lacked in practicality we hade up for with legs, time, and an indomitable spirit. Fiona boarded the next shuttle to take our groceries back (thank you Fiona for enabling my dumb shenanigans) and I set myself to the task at hand–namely, walking five miles through the streets and alongside the highways of Cambridge with a large orange shopping cart.

these sidewalks were a bit bumpy...

i promise i did not go on the highway (altho i did walk alongside an on-ramp) (on the sidewalk tho)

almost home!

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When I finally made it back to campus two hours later, I was sweaty, exhausted, and committed to seeing the project through. We carried the shopping cart down a flight of stairs into our apartment (it’s heavy as HECK), and parked it in our living room. Then commenced an intense cleaning regimen, because this cart had certainly seen some things in its day. But after egregious quantities of Clorox spray, paper towels, and blue tape to cover up the rust falling off its frame, it was clean!

i think this took at least 30 paper towels given all the hexagonal holes to clean

you'd think the plastic would make it lighter but the metal frame on this bugger is HEAVY to carry down the stairs

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Now that everything was settled, we could finally christen him with his new name: Carl⁠01 Despite the one-letter difference between 'carl' and 'cart', Carl is actually named after the giant extraterrestrial robot in An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, by Hank Green, because I think he sparks the same kind of joy :D .

Meet Carl, everyone!

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Unfortunately, Carl in his original state looked a bit naked, so I asked my friend Benson L. ‘27 to look for potentially useful items at the Swapfest (a monthly MIT tech flea market). He pulled through with two license plates, a small lightbulb, and a massive weapon flashlight that’s so powerful it literally needs a safety mechanism. Meanwhile, on my next Costco trip I stopped at Home Depot to purchase some PVC pipes and connectors, found some blankets on clearance at Ross, and cut pieces of felt into eyes. Put it all together with a bit of ribbon, and Carl now feels very bonita!

my child :D

For some time, Carl lived peacefully in our apartment, looking out at our beautiful view of the Charles River. But one can only be a homebody for so long, and as the summer came to an end, we carried him back up the stairs to our apartment and out into the world. Here’s a few snippets of Carl’s adventures this year!

unfortunately the canopy is a bit cumbersome for moving anything except people

Carl helping out at the ATS event Strait 2 Taiwan! (shoutout ATS their food is AMAZING)

after a long couple days helping Science Olympiad, Carl was enlisted to carry large amounts of water back to our dorm. why? uhh smth smth setting up camping tents on the field smth smth trying to cover them in ice (this did not work very well)

we have a foldable couch that's infernally heavy and impossible to move. strategy: put it in the bottom of Carl and stop every 30 seconds to keep it from falling out

it was pretty easy to put the fridge inside Carl, but the bouncing/vibrations on the road wedged it into Carl so tightly I had to turn him fully on his side to get the fridge out

Carl's favorite activity: ferrying passengers!

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