Starbucks 'Pay It Forward' Streak Lasts 11 Hours In Florida

378 Strangers Bought Each Other Coffee At Starbucks

Goodwill was brewing at a Starbucks in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Wednesday morning when a customer at the drive-through window decided to "pay it forward" and buy coffee for the next person in line.

Instead of just accepting the free drink and moving on, however, that customer returned the favor and bought a drink for the next person in line at the drive-through.

It happened again... and again... and again, until 378 customers had purchased drinks for the strangers in line behind them, a "pay it forward" chain that lasted nearly 11 hours.

"It makes your day better, I think," customer Lexie Kane told The Tampa Bay Times.

"Someone started a good thing and we’re just trying to carry the ball," customer John Myers told Bay News Nine.

The hot streak ended at about 6 p.m., when a woman insisted on just paying for her own drink.

Barista Vu Nguyen told the Times that the customer didn't seem to understand the concept.

These random acts of caffeinated kindness happen from time to time. This particular location at one point had a "pay it forward" sequence that lasted through 141 customers. And last year, a pay-it-forward chain at a Connecticut Starbucks lasted for several days and 1,468 customers.

(h/t Anonymous)

Before You Go

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