A California mom defends her cart stance after video goes viral

Will Conybeare and Ashley Regan

1 hour ago

(KTLA) – A Southern California woman recently gained a lot of popularity after she posted a video on TikTok explaining why she doesn’t return her cart after putting groceries in her car and defended her stance on Nexstar’s KTLA Weekend Morning News Saturday.

“I won’t return my cart and you can judge me however you want,” Dr. Leslie Dobson, a clinical and forensic psychologist in Los Angeles, said in her May 29 post, which has amassed nearly 12 million views and hundreds of thousands of comments. “I’m not going to put groceries in the car, put the kids in the car, and then leave them in the car.”

“So if you’re going to give me a dirty look, f**k off,” she added.

Many people on social media liked the video, prompting some users to refer to Dr. Dobson, a single mother of two, as “entitled” or “Karen” and suggesting that she take her children with her, return her stroller, or consider the “shopping cart theory “.

“I have three children and I either park right next to the return point (shopping cart) or I take them with me to return the cart,” said one user. “It’s just the decent thing to do.”

However, others expressed their support.

“I agree with you 100%… I always returned my stroller and now that my kids are older I’m doing it again,” another user said. “But it wasn’t until I had little children that I realized what you were saying. I won’t leave them in the car without me, period!”

In a follow-up video posted on May 31, Dr. Dobson stood by her opinion, saying that 265 children had been abducted in American parking lots and that half of those victims had been victims of sexual violence.

“As a single mom returning a shopping cart, you have an excellent chance of a predator watching you and catching you,” she said in the video.

Dr. Dobson joined the KTLA 5 Weekend Morning News on Saturday to defend her position and talk with two other mothers – KTLA 5’s Megan Telles and Lauren Lyster – about why the video sparked so much outrage and how she’s dealing with the backlash.

“I’m shocked, but I’m also very happy because I’ve received hundreds – maybe even thousands – of messages from mothers saying: ‘I got there, I looked around and here I am.’ I’m more aware now,” she said. “I know the video was provocative, but that’s what I wanted… I wanted to attract attention. It’s the bigger picture: “We need to empower ourselves to trust our intuition.”

According to Dr. Dobson, parents – especially mothers – are “minimized,” and she emphasized that just getting young children into the car can be a challenge.

“Coming from the mindset of someone who has been working with predators for 20 years, I know how they think and I know what they are looking for, and this is a vulnerable moment,” she said. “When you get back to your car, you’re already being watched for quite some time, so if you prefer social pleasantries to protecting your children, I just want to say you don’t have to.”

The clinical psychologist told KTLA that she has received death threats and has been attacked since the video was posted online. While she is saddened by some of the “savage” comments, she hopes that some people can redirect their online hatred towards her towards children’s safety.

Overall, Dr. Dobson believes she is doing what she can to take power back from predators, even if it means causing controversy.

“We took the power back from the predators because now it’s a global conversation, which shocked me,” she said. “But honestly, if we have awareness, this predator won’t be able to do what he intended to do.”

Before she left, Dr. Dobson talked about her general shopping cart returning habits.

“I always return my shopping cart, but if I don’t feel safe and my children are in the car, they are my priority,” she said. “I keep it in a safe place and put my children’s safety first.”