Paying it backward

This morning I was in the drive-through at Starbuck’s and when I got to the window the cashier told me the person in front of me had paid for my order. I wasn’t in a bad mood but had been bemoaning the state of things earlier in a message to a friend and this made me happier than I would have thought possible. The cashier was excited to tell me, I was excited to hear it, and then I pulled out a 20 and said “Pay for the person behind me and then put whatever is left in the tip jar.” She was grateful and said she really appreciated me continuing the thread and thinking of her and her coworkers too. It was a simple and random act of kindness from the car ahead of us, and I wanted to spread some of it down the line. I drove away hoping that maybe a string of paying it back kept on going for as long as there were people in line getting coffees this morning. And you know, that eggnog latte was the best ever.