<p>I don’t feel, or see here, outrage. I do feel an affinity for critical thinking and what words mean, and I’ll speak out for those things, always.</p>
<p>I don’t drink coffee, don’t go to Starbucks other than to use their restrooms. I like the idea of paying it forward, but I really prefer to help out people who need the help. Like giving money to my local food bank. What if the person behind me is Warren Buffett? Why should I pay for a billionaire’s coffee?</p>
<p>I honestly don’t know what I’d do if a cashier told me someone else paid for my drink, and asked me to “pay it forward.” </p>
<p>I like stradmom’s door example. I have no idea if this was organic or manufactured, however it doesn’t surprise me that a percentage of people get a little feel good moment out of an exercise where everyone gets what they want but it isn’t exactly fair how the payment goes. I guess if you wonder what happens when the order behind you is $2 more than yours and you are on the “losing” end of the exchange then you might as well break the chain at that point.</p>
<p>Many things in life are nearly mandatory “pay it forward”. Other people paid their property taxes so that my kids could have schools to attend and I will continue to pay mine and vote for new ones after my oldest graduates. I know that most people aren’t wanting to have a relationship with the patrons and baristas at Starbucks but I think that in most peaceful and lasting relationships in life - both family and work - people don’t put too much energy into keeping score. A mini exercise in that from time to time can be refreshing.</p>
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<p>He is a political blogger and “consultant.” This gave him a LOT of free publicity. He claims to have been disgusted with what he considers fakery or a publicity stunt, but he very cleverly took advantage of it to pull a stunt of his own that will result in thousands of hits on his blog.</p>
<p>He seems like a class A jerk. (Not that I think that this pay it forward chain was particularly worthy.)</p>
<p>^ well that just explains it. (I admit, I did not read the article so my apologies if I missed something obvious!) </p>
<p>Small OT story: In high school, I had an absolutely wonderful and optimistic teacher that was born with Cerebral Palsy and later developed an incredibly rare and very painful disease as an adult. It is one that can barely be treated and has no cure. One of his assignments, every semester no matter what class you were in, was to “pay it forward” without anyone noticing (ie not making a big deal about it). He didn’t check whether or not we had done it, but students were pretty good about making sure everyone did it. Even now, years later, students still write to him on FB whenever they’re the recipient of a “pay it forward” act of kindness and more than once, it has been another student that did the paying it forward. It’s pretty amazing how big of an impact he’s had on our community. </p>
<p>Right, it’s two competing PR stunts. Pay it forward is a lovely concept but being urged to pay it forward by a coffee chain is nonsensical. Why it would make anyone feel good I don’t even know. It might be mildly amusing until you find out that the guy behind you has a bigger bill. Pass.</p>
<p>I don’t even have to look to know the orientation of his blog.</p>
<p>Why does it matter? Most posters agree it’s a lame publicity stunt.</p>
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<p>I’m not outraged, I just think people are stupid if they see this as paying it forward. Of course, people are stupid. ~O) </p>
<p>So I’ve been part of this farce a number of times. Seems to happen around the holidays, and only in the drive through lane. You put in your order, and they don’t tell you until you get up to the window. The person in front of you paid for your drink, do you want to pass it on the person behind you? It’s so annoying, you feel pressured to say yes, to not be a Grinch. It is NOT a spontaneous act of kindness, it is pressure. Well, you might have a car full of people behind you, and all you ordered was a tall drip coffee. I really hate this, because it isn’t spontaneous at all. Now sometimes I’ve paid for the person behind me. Once because I accidentally cut the lady off, and got in front of her in line, and the other time because it was a law enforcement officer, and I actually like those guys (as long as I’m not getting a ticket). But both times I told the barista to not start that stupid chain thing, I just wanted to pay for their drinks.</p>
<p>I think what bugs me about it, is that it’s such a fake act of kindness. I want to do something to help someone when I see need, or just do spontaneously kind things to make people happy. This doesn’t make anyone happy, just irritated. </p>
<p>Random acts of the kindness by the self-absorbed, privileged First World customers of Starbucks who spend $7 bucks for a Iced, Half Caff, Ristretto, Venti, 4-Pump, Sugar Free, Cinnamon, Dolce Soy Skinny Latte </p>
<p>It warms the cockles of my heart… 8-| </p>
<p>“who spend $7 bucks for a Iced, Half Caff, Ristretto, Venti, 4-Pump, Sugar Free, Cinnamon, Dolce Soy Skinny Latte”</p>
<p>This is what I don’t like about SB’s - they turn a simple cup or coffee (one of life’s great pleasures) into a 3 ring circus.</p>
<p>I suppose one could say, I’ll pay the $5 that my drink cost forward. If their drink was less than that, keep the change as a tip; if it was more, then they can make up the difference. But that’s economics, not psychology.</p>
<p>"“who spend $7 bucks for a Iced, Half Caff, Ristretto, Venti, 4-Pump, Sugar Free, Cinnamon, Dolce Soy Skinny Latte”"</p>
<p>Add 120 degrees, silky foam…</p>
<p>You know, I just get drip or Americanos. I save my fancy ones (though I rarely even get those, too much sugar) for after I get my twelve stars, and it’s free. I’d be horrified if some poor sucker paid $7 for my drink.</p>
<p>“Now sometimes I’ve paid for the person behind me. Once because I accidentally cut the lady off, and got in front of her in line, and the other time because it was a law enforcement officer, and I actually like those guys (as long as I’m not getting a ticket). But both times I told the barista to not start that stupid chain thing, I just wanted to pay for their drinks.”</p>
<p>I did that once – accidentally cut a woman off in traffic and got into line ahead of her without realizing it, and then when I reached the counter, I did tell the barista that I’d pay for her behind me to make it up. But it never occurred tome that I should even tell them not to start a chain – I just said I’d pay for her. Actually I think I just gave them a few extra bucks and figured that would cover it. For all I know she had ordered a $7 drink :-)</p>
<p>Hopefully the barista understood you were trying to do one nice act to make up for cutting her off. It completely takes away from that act if then, the person is guilted into paying for the $7 soy latte of the person behind them. I think the baristas aren’t always too into this either, they are busy</p>
<p>I rarely go to SB, but I think if I was informed that the person in front of me had paid for me and did I want to pass it on, I’d decline, not wanting to negate the nice gesture someone had truly randomly made.</p>
<p>This stupid Starbucks pay-forward chain is all your fault, Pizza</p>
<p>^^Except, garland, they tell you that everyone has been doing this for the last two hours, that a chain is started. Not that the person in front of you has done a random kind act. They directly ask you if you want to pay for the person behind you.</p>
<p>As you can see, trivial as this is, it’s one of my pet peeves. Way to take a nice gesture and make it into an obligation.</p>
<p>So I just looked around a bit more and found that in Dec a SB chain of over 1000 people paid for the person behind them. SB baristas opened a gift card so the money could be put there if no one was behind you in line.</p>
<p><a href=“http://abcnews.go.com/News/starbucks-customers-break-1000-in-pay-it-forward-record/blogEntry?id=21351218&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F”>http://abcnews.go.com/News/starbucks-customers-break-1000-in-pay-it-forward-record/blogEntry?id=21351218&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F</a></p>
<p>I am officially a curmudgeon because I find this a really tacky promo by Starbucks and see absolutely no good will at all. Yup. Curmudgeon …that’s me.</p>