Day 25 - Pay for someone behind you at the lunch counter.

I figured the best time to do this deed would be on my lunch hour at work; I tend to be on the shy side if I don't know someone and I definitely didn't want to be thanked for my deed face to face. So on my lunch break I went to Wendy's fast food restaurant drive thru to buy myself a salad; I took my time before ordering waiting for someone to pull up behind me. An older Hispanic woman pulled up in a falling apart car and I knew right away she was the perfect candidate. When I got to the window to pay I nervously asked the cashier how much the ladies bill was behind me, she told me it was $7.43 and I told her I would like to pay for it. She had to get her manager to override the transaction so that I could pay for both together. I go to that particular Wendy’s for salads several times a month and the cashier working had seen me several times previously, she smiled as she handed me back my card.

Once I paid for both meals I sped up to the second window and in my head I was thinking "please hurry up, please hurry up". I wonder what the cashier said to her and I wonder what she thought when she found out I had paid. As I drove off I looked at her car and she wasn't looking at me at all so I drove off. It wasn't until I got to my office that I decided to Google similar people who had performed the same deed; I found several and all made me realize that I had completed my deed incorrectly.

My book just read "pay for the person behind you" but after researching I found I was either a) supposed to give the cashier a card that read "pay it forward" or b) tell the cashier that I was doing a random act of kindness and that I hoped they would do the same thing for someone else in the future. When I read this I was so distraught, I felt like I had done the deed wrong and for nothing. What if she thought I was just a creepy girl who paid for her meal or someone who felt sorry for her etc. I started asking people in my office and they assured me the person thought it was an act of kindness. I hope that was the case, I remember long ago when I was younger I was driving on the highway and when I got to the toll the cashier told me the person in front had paid for me. It was only $0.75 cents but that completely made my day and made me smile from ear to ear; I hope that was the case with the person I paid for. Even if for only a minute, an hour, a day or a week I hope I made her smile and know that nice people do exist and acts of kindness do happen!