The Tesco Trolley Ramp Challenge

Pic Courtesy BuhSnarf, Flickr

Brace yourself for the world's most thrilling blog post... on a different website. Right now, I want to tell you how to save time in Tesco. No, please. Listen.

You know the ramps that stores have, the escalators? You know how the trolley wheels lock into the grooves of the escalator steps, preventing you from pushing them or pulling them? Well, I found a way to cheat the locking mechanism to save time. I very much doubt, as these people suggest, that the trolleys use magnets to lock in. I'm sticking with the wheels and the track fitting together.

You can still push your trolley up the escalator by holding the trolley by the side handles instead of the bar, and by entering the ramp at an angle so the wheels ride straight over the locking grooves. Keep pushing, but push with a little more effort on one handle, so that your trolley continues on that angle. Switch sides every few seconds, pushing more on the opposite end, so your trolley zigzags up the ramp.

The same technique can be applied with a full trolley on the way down, by again entering at an angle but gently tugging from one side to another, letting the wheels ride diagonally over the grooves.

I only shop for one, being an inexplicably available bachelor (sarcasm?) so my trolley isn't particularly heavy on the way back down. Please get in touch if you're a mother of two with a fully loaded trolley and have given this a shot. Because I would be amazed if you actually had.