The coffee machine is the heartbeat of my house. Either my husband or I program the coffee machine to be ready in the morning so there is no waiting for that first cup of joe. God forbid we run out of coffee. But if we do there is a back up plan. It's the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru one mile away from the house. I even change the driving route to work to make it there. Once you get in line you see cars already waiting in front of you. And in no time at all there are cars behind you too. We are all on the same caffeine quest. I have often looked through the rear view mirror at the person in the car behind me wondering if they were as tired as I was. But what we all had in common was the missing smile. No one smiles. I wasn't smiling. We order, we wait, we pay, we get our coffee and we drive off.
Now this idea was not mine, but it happened to me. I was in the Wendy's drive-thru at lunch one day and there already were a lot of cars in line coming in from the main highway. But from a side street an elderly lady drove up in her white car and waited patiently for someone to let her in. Three cars passed her and no one had the courtesy to let her get in line. I let her in. She ordered her food. She drove up to the window and she paid. She was then given her bag of food and she drove off. In the meantime I ordered my food. When I arrived at the drive-up window with my money the attendant told me that the lady in the white car had paid for my lunch and that I didn't owe anything. The attendant also told me that the lady had said she wanted to pay for my lunch because someone had shown her some kindness today. I was stunned. When I got my food I pulled out as fast as I could to see if I could spot her car at least to wave a thank you, but she was long gone. For the rest of the day I had this wonderful feeling inside. God recognized my kindness and rewarded me. I have never forgotten that day. But it has been several years now and I have been really remiss in "Paying It Forward".
So back to the coffee. This morning I ran out of coffee creamer. I am lactose intolerant so I can't have milk in my coffee and I don't like it black. I had to do a Dunkin Donut's run. And of course the line is already 4 cars deep. As I sat there I saw a car pull up behind me. A big SUV looking thing. I watched the lady through my rearview mirror. She looked tired and was not smiling. Then my Wendy's episode popped in my head. It was time for paying it back. I ordered my Chai coffee and drove to the window. I told the attendant that I wanted to pay for the tab of the car behind me. It was less than $5.00. But that small tab made me excited and made me smile. Then I asked the attendant to tell the lady that I want her to some day pay it forward too. I got my coffee and drove out of there like I was in a NASCAR race. I didn't want her to see me. And now I understood why the lady in the white car drove off too. A face to face encounter would take away the feeling of excitement for me and the surprise element for the lady in the SUV. And I think the idea of paying it forward is lost if you can thank someone. By saying 'thank you' it feels the deed is done. Since I didn't have a chance to say thank you, it stuck with me all these years that I had to do something in return for someone someday. And I wanted her to hopefully thank God instead.
DO SOMETHING KIND TODAY IDEA:
Buy the meal of the person behind you in the drive-thru line. You never know. It might change their day from grumpy to happy. Or it might change their sceptical outlook of humanity by a small act of kindness. It might even affect the attendant that sees first hand the face of the person giving, but mostly the face of surprise on the person receiving. They might want to get in the act someday too. But it will definitely change your day. This act of kindness is a better jolt than coffee.
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