NWR: When was the last time you Paid it Forward?

Continued from above: A CUSTOMER was brewing the coffee...he announces there are 3 minutes left to brew the Light Roast and more than 5 minutes for Dark Roast. So I waited...and then waiting for the people lined up in front of me...and then had to wait for another pot to be brewed...and then had to wait in line to pay.

I was a little upset and worried I would be late for work at this point. Suddenly the gentleman in front of me in line turned around and said "your coffee is paid for, have a great day." I was so surprised! I thanked him, and paid for the coffee of the person behind me. My outlook on the day improved immediately, and I got to work on time!

When was the last time a stranger did something unexpected for you? When was the last time you Paid it Forward?

Call me a cynic, but the whole Starbucks "pay it forward" doesn't make much sense to me. If someone buys your coffee, and you buy the persons coffee behind you, it's just a long line of people not buying the coffee they ordered lol. And what if the coffee order of the person behind you was way more expensive than your own? Now you're out more money than you would have spent, or risk looking like a huge ass.

Okay, with that rant over...I do try to pay it forward as often as possible. I constantly donate good clothes to young women in my area when I buy something new, always return money if I see someone drop it, etc. I have the worlds worst guilty conscious. If I don't do the right thing, I literally lose sleep at night.

That is a nice way to turn your morning around. I haven't done anything in awhile. Last time was a few months ago at the Little Caesars drive thru. The guy ahead of us paid for ours and then we paid for the one behind us, no one was behind the other car so I am sure it stopped there, but it was still nice.

I like to volunteer for good organizations when I can. The last was a yard sale where every dollar went to building a church in Uganda.

I had someone buy me my DD coffee about a week ago. I was the only person in line.

That's nice I don't really get how it works at Starbucks though, where the orders can get expensive really quick and not everybody just gets a plain coffee.

I have actually never done that, but I'm hardly ever getting coffee anywhere. Donating some money to the kickstarter campaign for the refugees made me feel better though, it's a drop in the bucket, but if everybody does it, it might help.

I've done the pay it forward at Starbucks a few times. I would pay for mine and the person behind me. I'm not sure if the person behind me did the same or not. Just a nice gesture to start the day for them and me.

I pay it forward whenever I have the energy to go out and load up my "old lady trolley". Normally with as much of the food bank's "basics" list as I can fit for £40 after coupons and deals. We'll normally get some treat stuff and non-food items as well when winter hits.

In little things, normally by giving someone a day ticket for the bus if I won't be travelling again that day. Signing for parcels for everyone (bar one flat who have managed to piss off everyone else) in the block so they can get them after work. Complimenting someone who looks like they're having a bad day. I try to do it every day I can leave the house.

When you grow up with fuck all, it makes little pay it forward things an ingrained part of you - like basic manners.

Oh I do have a story though of someone paying it forward to me. On the way to Phoenix from Omaha, I accidentally left my iphone on top of my car at our first gas stop and drove off with it on there. The semi truck driver behind me saw it fly off my car as I was getting onto the highway. He stopped his truck, picked up the phone and met me 40 miles down the highway (it took me a second to realize what I had done) and gave it back to me! He didn't have to do that, and it would have been a quick $600 for him if he kept it. He wouldn't even take the reward money my husband offered him.

I love reading everything that you all are doing to give back and pay it forward!

My coffee was not at a Starbuck's price (only $1.50), but it was still nice. I paid for the person behind me which was less than mine because their cup was smaller. I have no idea if it continued beyond that person.

Other things we (my FH, myself, and my kids) do in our community include preparing and serving meals to the homeless two Saturdays every month, free facials/make overs to the women that reside in a domestic violence shelter (I lived there for several months when I was 20), collecting and donating personal hygiene products to homeless and domestic violence shelters.

One thing FH and I feel strongly about is giving back to programs that helped us when we needed it. It has been over 20 years since either of us needed these programs, and we are truly blessed to be able to continue to support these programs.

I was in the Dollar Tree, getting tissue paper. Seriously, everything is a dollar. There was a lady in front of me that had $60+ items, and her debit card was denied, she tired to write a check that was denied too. She had a little boy who was about 2 screaming that he wanted a sucker, and she was so frazzled she yelled at him. She had no cash on her to even pay for the sprite that she had already opened. As she was on the phone with her bank, I paid for her sprite and his sucker so he would stop screaming. She was very grateful. I know it was just $2, but you could tell it meant a lot to her at that moment.

The last time I thought about paying it forward, I didn't smh. I asked how much the ticket was for the person behind me and it was like $50 at Whataburger. I was like holy crap, I can't today lol. I'm going to do it today because of this post though :-)

I would have given you that dime VM!

We donate food, clothes, etc. Money to Church yada, yada, yada.

Just this week we had an agent (around 50 or 60) who comes into the office like 4 times a year. Her last visit here she mentioned she was getting remarried on her birthday (next week). I went around the office strong arming people into chipping in for a gift for her. The usual response was I've never met her, whatever she's a sweet old lady, she's getting married, give me $5 and sign the fucking card.

Hmmm I participate in the Starbucks thing, but I'm not a huge fan of it, it just happens to often at the starbucks i go to! But if an opportunity to help someone that needs it I hope i'm not to shy to step up. I do pick up the neighbor lady's newspaper every morning from her driveway and put it on a chair outside her door. She's old and I don't want her to have to bend down to the ground to pick up her paper every morning.

The Starbucks thing seems to happen to me all the time! If the order behind me is a rather large one, the people at the window usually suggest just buying one of the drinks on the order, or paying a portion of the ticket. But I kind of hate that at that point I feel obligated to do it or look like a jerk

ETA: and there was a time that it happened when one of the items I was purchasing was a promotional item that was going to earn me bonus "stars" on the Sbux gold card rewards program...that really ticked me off! LOL!!!!

I love reading these stories!

Yeah, I'd be scared to get caught in a line of paying it forward in case I didn't have enough money for the person behind me lol.

Last week, I was presented with two opportunities to pay it forward. Not sure if it counts though since they asked. One was a homeless man who wanted a couple dollars for a small meal and I just bought him a big meal. The other was a woman with her nephew who was going around asking for change in hopes to collect enough for a taxi ride home from a nearby hospital (for the kid's mom) because their ride bailed on them, I just gave them a $20 which covered the whole fare. It was crazy how appreciative they were, it warmed my heart. Especially the little boy who just wanted to go home and sleep on a school night.