Pay It Forward Becomes Fling It Backward

(I work at a place where it’s common for customers to pay for the person behind them in the drive-thru. I help a customer who intended to pay only for her $4 drink, but upon hearing that the customer in front of her had paid it, insisted on paying for the $11 total behind her. The customers with that total pull up, and I notice they are all teenage girls.)

Me: “Actually, guys, the lady in front of you paid for your order!”

Driver: “What? Why?”

Me: “It’s kind of a pay-it-forward thing; it happens pretty often here.”

Driver: *to her friends* “Sweet guys! Free drinks!”

(I hand them their four drinks and ask if they’d like to pay it forward.)

Driver: “Why would I? I just saved 11 bucks!”

Me: “Well, have a good day!”

Coworker: “I get it when someone intends to pay for one drink, and can’t afford a huge total of the person behind them. But when that happens it just makes me want to throw things.”