A cup full of kindness…

Did you hear about this?  I just thought it was pretty cool and wanted to share it others in case they didn’t see this… 

 

Starbucks customers pay it backward

By Michelle Koetters
mkoetters@pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON — Call it the spirit of the season. For more than three hours Tuesday, drive-through customers at the Starbucks on Bloomington’s east side didn’t pay for the coffee they ordered.
Rather, as each customer reached the drive-through window, he or she was told the order had been paid by the driver who had just pulled away.

By the time it was over, about 142 people had spread the Christmas spirit.

It all started about 9:20 a.m. when an anonymous woman told the drive-through worker at the restaurant at Veterans Parkway and Washington Street that she wanted to pay for the person behind her in line, said employee Erik Zambrano.

“She just wanted to wish the next person a merry Christmas,” Zambrano said.

Initially, the Pantagraph heard the spirit of giving was going on at the nearby Krispy Kreme doughnut business. But a check showed it wasn’t going on there.

But a later inquiry at Starbucks proved the Christmas spirit was alive and well. In fact, said Zambrano, people kept paying for the orders of the motorists in front of them until 12:57 p.m.

“I explained the person in front of them had paid for their order. Customers would offer to pay for the order behind them,” Zambrano said. “Typically, they were ecstatic the person had paid for their order.”

Customers really wanted to keep the chain going, said Zambrano, adding, “It has happened before. Someone would pay for a drink, but not that many. (Tuesday) it just went on and on and on.”

Occasionally, the store saw some breaks in business, but the random acts of kindness didn’t end just because the line was empty: A few drivers donated about $5 toward the next person’s order if no one else was waiting, Zambrano said.

A typical order was $3 to $5, he said, though an occasional person had a large order.

“Sometimes, they would pay part of those large orders,” Zambrano said. “Then (the person who placed the order) would pay the rest, but that didn’t happen too often.”

OK, pretty cool huh!  Well tonight was another fun Knit Night.  It was on the quiet side, and it was wonderful.  I enjoyed the company of everyone there and shared dip mixes with as many people that would take them.  It’s a small thing, but I like sharing them at the holiday time, because you just never know when you might need something to whip up.  Sometimes it’s hard to make people think outside of the box (or the dip bag).  I always try to give people at least 2 or 3 other ideas for using the dip mixes, other than just making it up as a dip… not that it isn’t great that way too!  🙂  (See the “what else is there” at the side of my blog for other ideas – Dip Stuff.)  You would be amazed at all the ideas people give me and things I come up with at the spur of the moment when I’m cooking dinner.

A couple of weeks ago I asked if anyone wanted for me to knit them something, and I would send it out to them sometime in the 365 days.  I got no takers, maybe because they didn’t want to do the same or for some other reason.  That’s OK, I would like to do something a little different right now.

For the first 10 people that respond… If you will send me your name and address I will send you a dip mix and recipe ideas sheet to enjoy and share with your friends, family, co-workers or eat it all yourself.  If you don’t feel comfortable giving me this information, that’s fine – more dip for someone else!  I promise I’m not going to add you to some mail list or anything else.  I just want to share something that I have a great passion for (besides knitting!) and that is dip mixes.  If you don’t like something please let me know.  And I’ll tell ya this, I love garlic and most mixes have garlic in them.  Not all, but most.  And most all have no salt!

Now if you missed Knit Night tonight I’m going to bring in all the dips I have left over after our bazaar at work to The Yarn Corner, in Aberdeen.  If you stop in and bring Sherri a Starbuck’s extra hot non-fat peppermint mocha, no whip, and then pay for the person behind you in line at Starbucks too, then you can have one too!  Just kidding!

Please come in and say HI and pick up a dip mix and let Sherri know you are safe after this crazy week we all went through.

Be safe, and go pick up some IMO it mixes better than sour cream and is less calories and stays nice and thick for dips!  lol