We were talking at work the other day. A coworker mentioned she got a free coffee at the coffee shop drive through because the person driving the car ahead of her paid her bill. Intrigued, I asked, "Is this just a coffee shop thing?" I was told that this "paying it forward" is not just a coffee shop thing but can be done at any drive through. Later that week I scheduled an evening so busy I didn't have time to go home to eat. As I waited in line at the only fast food place that serves vegie burgers a man in a sedan pulled up behind me. I could pay it forward for this guy. I could do a kind deed. At the window I asked if I could pay for the person behind me. They allowed it. I wondered if the cashier would pocket the money and charge him too. I guess I have a suspicious mind. My vegie burger was three dollars. His bill came to twelve dollars. One guy ordered two whopper meals and extra fries and two full sugared cokes. He ordered all kinds of empty carbs, three and a half weeks worth of saturated fat and too much sugar. Am I helping him or am I killing him? Was this a kind deed or did I contribute to future diabetes or a future heart attack? Maybe I'm thinking too much. Yeah, that's probably it. Thinking too much. I'm gonna think long and hard before I do that again. It's not like you can ask the drive through staff if the person behind you in line is making healthy choices before you offer to pay for their order. The people who work at these places are obliged to think all the choices are healthy. There I go - thinking too much again. I have no idea what impact I had on this guy. I guess that is how paying it forward works. You don't know the impact you make.
2 comments:
Sue, how did you know what the guy behind you ordered to pay his bill? Normally you just give the clerk so much money and say to apply it to the order behind you. We have *paid it forward* before but never have known the amount the person behind us has racked up!
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