paid forward

have you ever heard one of those stories about someone pulling up to pay for their food in a fast food drive thru only to find out that the person who was in the car in front of them paid their bill for them? i remember hearing about that happening at starbucks a while back. anyway...get a load of this!

i went to chick-fil-a to pick up lunch for myself and 4 co-workers today. my total was $29.70. when i got to the second window the guy handed me all my drinks, a bag of condiments, and my bags of food. never once did he stop to take the $30 cash that i was politely waving at him. after he had given me the entire order he gave me a small card that said, "SMILE you've just been tagged!" then it went on to say that basically i was "it" and that it was my turn to do something for someone. i must have had a very confused look on my face because the guy had to explain to me, "the lady in front of you paid your bill." and i said, "WHAT?!!" i felt like i was on candid camera!

i actually noticed when she pulled up to the second window that she handed a credit card to the guy, signed a receipt, and then drove off. he never gave her an order. so this gal just got into the chick-fil-a drive thru solely to buy the food for whoever ended up behind her. amazing.

i joked with my co-workers that i was "paying it forward" by "paying it back" because i gave them all of their money back instead of pocketing it and keeping quiet about the whole thing. honestly, telling that story to everyone and seeing their reactions was worth the $30 that i could have gotten away with anyway. so now, 5 of us are inspired to pay it forward instead of just me.

 check out helpothers.org to find out more about it.

the card that i was given today