378 Person Pay-It-Forward Chain At Starbucks Broken By Awesome Jerk

Dillon Cheverere10 years ago

I respect the guy who knowingly broke the 378-person pay-it-forward chain at Starbucks, and so should you.

A St. Petersburg Starbucks made the news because of the pure generosity of one single person: whomever decided that he or she would not only purchase their own order at the drive-thru window, but also the order of the next vehicle in line, assumedly a complete stranger. So kind. But think about the person who just had their drink purchased for them. They had a decision to make. Did they move along through the line and enjoy the five dollars saved, or did they succumb to the burden of enjoying a free latte and not carrying on the train of generosity?

This person caved, and he or she bought the drink of the next vehicle in line. So did the next 376 people. They were all basically guilted into paying it forward.

“Your drink has been paid for by the vehicle in front of you.”

“No shit?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Fuck yes!”

“Would you like to purchase the order for the car behind you?”

“Fuck. Uh, yeah. That’s fine.”

Peter Schorsch, a local blogger, was having none of that. He killed the pay-it-forward chain, then he wrote about it.

From the Tampa Bay Times:

What is not an act of kindness is what was happening today at the same Starbucks, where customers were being told that they had had their drink paid for and then asked would they like to pay for the drink of the person next in line.

That’s not generosity, that’s guilt.

When a new ‘Pay It Forward’ chain started today, I had to put an end to it.

So, yes, I drove to the Starbucks, purchased two Venti Mocha Frappuccinos and, even though someone in front of me had paid for one of my drinks, I declined the barista’s suggestion to pay for the drink of the person behind me.

Is he a jerk? Yeah, but he’s an awesome one.

[via Tampa Bay Times]