Most shoppers don’t inspect the handles of their shopping carts when they grab one, but one woman in Wheatland, California is happy she did when she found a razor blade concealed in the plastic portion of the underside of the handle.
Julie Nicolas was at her local Walmart in Marysville and was wiping down the cart’s handle with an anti-bacterial wipe when she spotted the blade. She told FOX40 that she got nicked but thankfully not cut.
As startling as her nasty discovery was, she was even more alarmed to learn from a sales associate that it was not an isolated incident. Nicolas recounts, “I handed it to her, and she threw it away, I asked her, ‘Is this a thing?’ And she said ‘Ya, it is a thing.'”
In fact, some workers told the news station that they are regularly instructed to search for concealed razor blades in shopping cart handles and to take appropriate safety measures (wear gloves) when inspecting the carts.
This Walmart is not the only retail institution to have experienced this frightening threat to shoppers’ safety. Similar reports from KRQE back in 2014 reported that two Walmart shoppers were injured in Roswell, New Mexico.
Not only can the blades cause potentially dangerous cuts, doctors say cross contamination of blood can lead to infections and diseases, including Hepatitis or HIV. So concealed razor blades such as these are a serious threat to public safety. It’s a frightening risk, especially considering many parents put their toddlers in carts too.
Please share this warning with your family and friends.
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