It's on me

This past winter I was in the very bad habit of going to Starbucks every work day. Many times, it was cold and I was lazy and I even went through the drive-thru. I felt a bit guilty for this, but then I tend to have feelings of guilt over a number of things. Why, I am trying to figure out, as I was not raised with any formal religion- a couple of which are associated with those feelings of guilt. I guess, it is just knowing deep down that I am kind of going against my true desire at the deepest level, which is to be utterly clean and healthy and environmentally responsible and not such a freaking consumer. But, alas sometimes- make that most of the times my need for instant gratification speaks to me the loudest and quickest and so it gets listened to and fed first. Guilt be damned. So anyway, this one morning I was in the drive-thru listening to NPR and I noticed the woman in front of me had a nice Mercedes and her plate said that she was a Dallas judge. Hmm. Whatever, it was of no consequence, just an observation. I noticed she looked back at me in her mirror and she seemed pleasant, wearing just a small smile. And then she was off and it was my turn at the window. The barista told me that the woman had bought my latte. It totally shocked me. I didn't really believe it at first, but there it was. It was such a sweet gesture. One of those random acts of kindness that were encouraged via bumper stickers on hippie's cars in the 90s. Being on the receiving end of this was just so AWESOME! It gave me such a delight. To receive a gift is a wonderful thing but from a stranger at random is really rather special. I started out my day with a feeling of hope. And so I promised to 'Pay it Forward' as in the movie. And so I performed the very same act for an unsuspecting person the next day. She was behind me and was middle aged. She looked pretty sad. It could have been the morning, the age or her mood. But she did. As I slowly pulled away from the window, I saw her reaction as she got the news and she did a double take at the barista, shook her head in disbelief and just looked as happy as I felt. When I had told the girl at the window that I was buying, she too was excited and she vowed to do something similar for someone else as well. I drove off- happy tears filling up my eyes and just feeling this electric high. No guilt for being lazy or drinking caffeine, just giddy. I really recommend trying this somewhere, someway. Believe me it will be well worth the extra few bucks you spend on someone's lunch or whatever. Pay it forward. Spread the love!