My family and I go to a fast-food restaurant. The lanes are split in the drive-thru. Normally, whoever’s order is finished first drives forward. We finish first and start to drive up, and the car in the other lane moves up, as well. This causes an awkward position as the car in front of us and our car is three feet apart. We end up pulling back and letting the car go in front.

We make comments about their movements in the line. I admit that we shouldn’t have done that. We get up to the paying window and the cashier tells us that the car in front (the car that pulled in front of us before) paid for our order. We decide to pay for the people behind us as a chain of kindness. Afterward, we pull up to the car, tell them thank you, and leave.

We decided that it was God’s way of telling us to be humble and not run our mouths out of annoyance and ignorance.

This story is part of our Feel Good roundup for April 2021!

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It’s Christmas Eve, so everyone and their dog is at the shops getting food and last-minute presents, etc. I am there with two small children. I’ve been to a couple of shops already and my EFTPOS card has been working fine, but now, at the checkout, with $100 worth of groceries and kids who are losing their patience, my card keeps getting declined for some reason. The cashier has run it a few times now, and I have explained that it was previously working, but the machine just keeps saying “declined.”

There is a line of about ten people behind me. I’m about to cry in frustration while my one-year-old tries to climb out of the trolley seat for a cuddle and my three-year-old has found the mangoes and is starting to eat one, skin and all, when the woman behind me speaks up.

Woman: “Here, let me just pay for it. Merry Christmas.”

Before I could even protest or anything, she handed over her card and the cashier put it through. I thanked her profusely, wished her and everyone else a Merry Christmas, and got my kids out of there. I went to an ATM, got $100 out, and gave it to one of the charity collectors, and then I got us all home.

I’m still not sure if the woman’s primary objective was to do something nice or to just get the line moving so she could get home herself, but either way, she was kind, gracious, and generous and I will never forget that, and it’s certainly made me more aware of trying to help other people around me.

This story is part of our Feel Good roundup for December 2020!

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I work at a drive-thru. Every so often, and more so in these stressful times, we have people offering to pay for the order of the person behind them.

Today, we have a bit of a line waiting. There is a policeman in line, and the woman behind him tells us when she orders that she would like to pay for his order.

Now, the woman ahead of the policeman has come to the window. She says she wants to pay for the policeman behind her. We inform her that the woman behind the policeman has already claimed paying for him.

Customer #1: “Fine. I’ll pay for her order, too, then.”

We are a little surprised, but we run the transaction. When the policeman comes up, we tell him that both the woman in front of him and the woman behind him wanted to pay for his order, but the woman in front won out.

Me: *To my coworker* “Just watch; since the woman in front paid for the woman behind, I bet the woman behind is going to pay for the order behind her.”

The police officer gets his food and leaves, and the woman behind him comes up to the window.

Coworker: “Good morning, ma’am! You wanted to bless the police officer in front of you, and so did the woman ahead of the police officer. When she heard that you had said you would pay for his food first, she actually paid for your food, as well as his!”

Customer #2: “She… what? Oh. Well, then… I guess I’ll pay for the person behind me, then!”

Me: “I called it!”

This story is part of our Feel Good roundup for December 2020!

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I am working checkout, scanning the items of a lady in line, making small talk, smiling, and generally trying to enjoy myself while making someone’s day a bit brighter. My customer is fairly young and seems tired, but kind.

I finish bagging her groceries (about $15 worth of microwaveable stuff) and she stays at the end of the register adjusting her purse and wallet after paying. Since she is taken care of, I start ringing up the gentleman behind her.

This guy has quite a few small items and his total is about twice that of the lady before him. When he goes to pay, the card reader gives him a chip error message.

Me: “Maybe you should try again, sir? Our machines are pretty sensitive and if the card is even a little smudged it won’t read it.”

He tries it again; this time it registers as declined. He steps away to call his bank and I save his order so that I can move onto the next person, but I am stopped by the lady who has yet to leave.

Customer #1: “I’ll pay for him.”

She still looks tired, and I can see a bit of hesitation there, and the guy has stepped away, so I ask:

Me: “Are you sure? The total was is about $30.”

She pauses for a moment but she nods. I recall the saved order and she pays for his items. I bag them up, stick the receipt inside one of the bags, and move on to the next person in line.

The tired lady has just left the register when the guy comes back with his card.

Me: “Your groceries are already paid for; the woman in front of you took care of it!”

I get a really weird look from this guy, like I told him I am keeping a tiny man in the register to organize the change or something equally ridiculous.

Customer #2: “She did?”

I nod. He turns and looks at the guy behind him, then back at me.

Customer #2: “Well, I guess I’ll pay for him, then.”

The dude behind him is not paying attention and has only gotten a few items, so I just sort of blink.

Me: “All right, then.”

I finish scanning the items, and [Customer #2] sticks in his card, which is approved – guess he got his bank stuff worked out. About this time, [Customer #3] realizes that I have just handed him a receipt.

Customer #2: “The lady ahead of me paid for mine, so I’m just passing it on. Have a nice day.”

I’m just sort of standing there at that point, waiting to see what will happen next. [Customer #3] thanks [Customer #2] and looks me dead in the eye.

Customer #3: “Well, I’m paying for hers, then!”

This literally repeated three times down the line and only stopped because no one else entered the queue.

The last woman who had her groceries paid for by the person in front of her was a mom of two kids, and she was floored when the guy paid her $60 bill. She flipped when I told her she was the sixth person in a “pay-it-forward chain” and I had a great time telling my coworkers about it when I went on break

So thanks, Tired Lady. I hope you had a nice day after that, because you made a bigger impact than you realized.

Related:
Pay It Forward Is Ballooning

This story is part of our Feel Good roundup for October 2020!

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I’m working the register at a craft store when an older man and his daughter walk up. He only has a credit card to pay for the one item they’re getting, and unfortunately, it’s a company our store does not accept. He and his daughter leave, disappointed, when the woman behind him does this.

Woman: “How much was his total?”

Me: “Huh? Oh, $4.89.”

Woman: *Turns to her son* “Hurry and go grab him before he leaves.”

The act was so unexpected, I started to tear up as I finished the transaction. The man returned with his daughter, and the woman handed him his item. He looked so perplexed at first, and then he realized what had happened and was extremely thankful.

It turns out she was paying it forward from when an older couple had unexpectedly paid for her meal at a nearby restaurant and left before she had the chance to thank them!

This story is part of our Feel Good roundup for October 2020!

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