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Comment by slovette | Hacker News Reader

I disagree, when you’ve got 4 kids and both arms full of groceries, when the doors open automatically or even unlock on their own it’s a godsend. I’d even say it’s probably saved some lives as the kids race to get in and out of the parking lot instead of waiting on me to shuffle around for the keys, dropping bags in the process, and then chasing each other around in blind traffic.

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Isn't the solution to that situation a shopping cart?

you dont have children

I find this behavior from parents very condescending - "You don't have children therefore your argument is invalid". Parenting isn't that hard - I have 2 kids (8 and 5 years age) and we're just doing fine. Just like 7 billion other people on this planet whose parents went through the same. Of all the hard things I've done in my 42 years of life, raising kids doesn't rank in the top 10.

Survivorship Bias? /s :)

I have 3 kids around the same ages. I wouldn't say they're the hardest thing in life but they're often a very difficult variable to manage along with life's other challenges. They have this compounding effect...

I'm not saying dealing with the kids is at all easy. But the kids are there either way. So I think you have my argument exactly backwards. I'm not saying something is easy. I think kids plus carried bags sounds completely overwhelming. If you want to say I'm wrong, you're making the argument that kids plus carried bags is easier than I think. So please, elaborate on how that's easier than a cart.

You're basically saying "I cannot, in any way, imagine a situation where the parent's story is the sensible choice, and therefore I'm entitled to make a pedantic comment about a situation I wasn't in". Instead, you should give them the benefit of the doubt.

I didn't say it was wrong. I said a cart should make it easier. I'm legitimately confused by their partial explanation, not being pedantic. It's fair to want clarification about why a cart doesn't solve this.

Maybe there are no carts at this store for some awful reason. Maybe the story was so focused on how this type of key solved their problem that they didn't give a fair shake to other possible solutions. More information is needed.

There are multiple ways I can/do give benefit of the doubt, but doing so doesn't make the situation any clearer.

Not always possible (weather conditions, snow can be a problem with those), and even with a cart you still have four kids to keep an eye on.

> Not always possible (weather conditions, snow can be a problem with those)

I have a hard time imagining snow such that you can walk to a car with four kids while carrying bags, but can't push a cart.

> even with a cart you still have four kids to keep an eye on.

I would posit that kids + cart + grabbing keys is basically always preferable to kids + both arms full of bags + not grabbing keys.

> when you’ve got 4 arms arms full of groceries

Damnit, speaking of unwanted features...

How much of an inconvenience would it be if your car gets stolen having 4 kids and both arms full of groceries in contrast to placing the bags on the floor for a second?

I have this smart key thingy too and I keep it in one of those RFID pouches. Since I don't have to use the key to start the engine, I feel the whole thing became more of a problem than it was before. You at least always knew where the key is and where to put it. Now it sometimes slids down the seat, or is in my jacket that I wanted to leave in the car or the engine/electric is not on/off because pushing the button does several things. It became an inconvenience and the few times I really used the automatic open feature after deliberately taking out the key out of the pouch to profit from it are negligible.

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