More than 375 people at a Florida Starbucks chose to “pay it forward” Wednesday by covering the tab of customers behind them in the drive-thru line in a streak of generosity that lasted for 11 hours.
The Tampa Bay Times said the “pay it forward” experience began about 7 a.m. when a woman at the drive-through window in the St. Petersburg Starbucks paid for her own drink and also paid for the caramel macchiato ordered in the car behind her, the Times said.
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As each customer learned his or her drinks had been paid for, they continued to pay for the next car in line, until Starbucks workers started to keep track.
“It's nice just to do a random act of kindness for someone you don't know," Tim Burnside, 19, told the Times. He participated in the morning and then came back in the afternoon to do so again when he found out it was still going on.
The long streak ended when a woman ordered a coffee about 6 p.m. and when asked if she wanted to participate, said that she’d rather just pay for her own coffee. An employee told the Times that he didn’t think she understood the concept of pay it forward.
Reuters reported that customers were inspired by Wednesday's pay-it-forward event and began doing the same thing on Thursday morning.
Someone even bought a $40 gift card to share with other drive-through purchasers, Reuters said.
The spontaneous “pay it forward” events have been increasing, and people often go online to share their thanks when they don’t know who their benefactor was.
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