Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Bet Your Bottom Dollar

Today while I waited in line to pay for my coffee refill, I noticed something I've never before seen at the shop. The gal behind me was also getting a refill. Odd? Well, most of the students are ordering toasty bagels and/or fancy-schmancy frozen coffee drinks (which is precisely why there is a line for me to stand in before I can pay $1 for my cuppa.) Anyhow, I don't know quite what it was that made me do it, but when it was my turn at the register, I paid for her refill too. I don't watch Oprah. I haven't read Pay It Forward. I suppose it just seemed like a fun little social experiment to run at that moment.

And you know moved as this co-ed was by my action ("That's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me!"), the buzz I got from paying a whopping dollar for her coffee was far more intense than that of the joe I bought for myself.

And then I felt like I had cheated.

What was intentioned as a kind gesture toward a stranger ended up making me feel really good. Now, I hope she felt a warm fuzzy or two throughout the day because of it and will do something of the like, though I'm guessing that her emotions were more along the lines bewilderment than the joy that I experienced.

And without going into my obsessive tendencies and how I might keep buying coffee after coffee for unknowing bystanders until the high isn't enough and then it becomes a need, not a want and the purchases get bigger and more dramatic all to feed my addiction....oh wait, I'm living on student loans. Never mind. I won't be paying for anybody's tank of gas but my own for quite some time. should try it. Make a total stranger's day. I betcha a dollar you'll like it too.

1 comment:

Billy Jo said...

Aww, so long Viv. :( Glad you're OK, Ginger. And yes, Mark is definitely a trade up. ;)