A few months ago when I pulled up to the window at the Starbucks drive-thru I was told that the gentleman in the car in front of me had paid for my cappuccino. I was surprised, but so touched at the gesture – and then paid for the coffee of the person behind me. It had brightened my entire day to have someone do that for me – that gesture cost him about three bucks, but the unexpected nature of that gesture had me smiling for most of the day.
When I made my 101 List, I decided that I too would pay it forward. In the course of 101 days, I want to pay it forward at least five times. Today, I did it for the first time. It was impulsive, I guess – when I pulled up to the window at Starbucks and was rooting through my wallet, I found an extra twenty dollar bill.
Let me be clear: Finding extra money in my wallet? It almost NEVER happens. I’m not sure why I had it or why I hadn’t spent it (cash has this funny way of jumping out of my wallet into cash registers all over Michigan – I’m not entirely sure how it happens). Impulsively, I gave the twenty to the cashier and asked to pay for the person behind me. I hadn’t really looked closely who was behind me – just knew that there was a pretty long line at the drive thru at quarter to eleven on a Friday morning. I got my change and pulled away and didn’t look back.
The funny thing is having been the recipient of someone’s free coffee, I knew how giddy it made me. I had no idea that doing that for someone else would give me that same feeling.
I’m used to DOING for people all the time – I do laundry, I do dishes, I keep them fed, and all of this is expected of me. It was such an amazing feeling to DO for someone what was not expected. I can’t wait to do it again. And I will.
101 in 1001 
dvsjr said
Amazing. Simple. Nice.