American woman mocked by Brits after just learning about coin-release shopping trolleys

They say when America sneezes, England catches a cold - which is perhaps a saying we need to consign to the bin given the coronavirus pandemic.

Regardless, it appears the relationship also happens in reverse, as Americans have just discovered a staple of the British supermarket shop.

We are talking, of course, about coin-release shopping trolleys. Posting on TikTok, Ashley Verhalen recounted her exciting trip to the shops in which she discovered these devices.

Filming herself taking then returning a trolley, she said:

“So the only way to get a cart here in Texas is to insert a quarter and then it gives you a cart, like what is this?

@thelifeinsurancelady/TikTok

“OK so now I’m returning the cart and you push it in and then you take this key and you push it in the back and it shoots your quarter out. So now I get to keep my quarter because I thought at first they were going to keep my quarter!

“Omg this is crazy!” she wrote. “Have you seen this before?” she added.

Yes. Yes, we have.

The video has clocked up over five million bemused views and Brits commenting on it were quick to school her on the difference between America and the UK. One person commented: “laughs in British”.

Another said: “I mean we have had these in the UK since 1453.”

A third added: “It’s like you’ve never been to Aldi.”

@thelifeinsurancelady/TikTok

In a follow-up video, Ashley said that a lot of people had asked her if she was serious and showed an American shopping trolley - free to use without sticking a coin in - to demonstrate the culture shock she experienced when coming across a British style trolley.

“Crazy right?” she asked. “You can just take whatever cart you want.”

Crazy indeed. If you want to watch Ashley get excited about trolleys, you can do so here.