More Than 160 Customers ‘Paid It Forward’ At One Starbucks Drive-Thru

Every once in a while generous consumers will “pay it forward” by buying their fellow customers coffee, diapers, lunch, or other items. These feel-good chains usually peter out after a few customers, but not for dozens of customers at one Pennsylvania Starbucks.

KDKA in Pittsburgh reports that more than 160 Starbucks customers using the location’s drive-thru paid for the order of the person behind them in line.

Employees at the coffee shop say the chain began around 9 a.m. and continued for much of the day.

“They like… just felt like joy, and they were like, that’s so awesome of them, so they just wanted to do the exact same thing,” the barista tells KDKA.

There were a few times when someone didn’t feel like paying if forward, the employee says, noting that instead of letting the chain break he paid for the beverages.

Another barista tells KDKA this isn’t the first time the pay it forward bug has hit the store, but it was by far the longest with at least 160 customers participating.