Having worked in a coffee shop, I've seen people try to pay for another person's bill. To be honest, it's depressingly rare — which is why I'm so floored by this Dunkin' Donuts pay-it-forward chain in York, Pa. Because it happens every Friday. Like, on a weekly basis. And that warms the cockles of my little caffeinated heart.
The branch's manager told York Dispatch News that there's no official start time or signal for this particular pay-it-forward chain to begin. At some point, though, every Friday morning, someone offers to pay for the next person's order — and so it begins. It continues through to the last car in line at the drive-thru, usually averaging around 10 cars. Two weeks ago, they hit their all-time record of 32 in a row. The manager feels pretty confident that, had the line been longer, the chain would have kept on keepin' on.
Pay-it-forward stories always hit me in the feels because it's just people being, you know, nice humans. Who do favors for other humans. Without expecting immediate pay-back. Basic kindness. It's hot in here, I'm sweating from my eyes, shut up, you're the one who's crying.
Anyway, here are a few more stories of niceness, because warm 'n' fuzzy feelings are nice to have on a Tuesday.
1. 11-Hour Pay-It-Forward Chain at Starbucks
Last summer, a St. Petersburg, Fla. Starbucks experienced an 11-hour pay-it-forward chain when, at 7 a.m. on a Wednesday, a woman asked to pay for both her iced coffee and the next person's macchiato. The kindness continued until 6 p.m., totaling 378 examples of nice humans playing well together.
2. Stranger Pays for New Mom's Diapers
When a young mom realized that Wal-Mart's price match policy only applied to one of the four boxes of diapers in her cart, the woman behind her in line pulled out her credit card and paid for the diapers instead. The stranger, whose purchase totaled $120, simply asked that, at some point in the future, the mother help out another stranger in need. This party of niceness was caught on camera, garnering over 4,000 "likes" in its first week on Facebook.
3. Airline Employee Pays Out-of-Pocket So a Customer Can Get Home
After experiencing a hellish string of flight delays and cancellations from Delta Airlines, a Vancouver woman realized that she was going to be stranded in California overnight. An employee from another airline overheard the woman's hour-long struggle at the ticket desk and offered her a voucher for the next flight home. It wasn't until the woman was boarding that she realized the Alaska Airlines employee had paid out-of-pocket to help her get home.
