General Discussion

Xithras

(16,191 posts)

13. Out of those 400 people, only one was actually generous.

Fri Aug 22, 2014, 12:26 AM

Aug 2014

Put 50 people in a circle. Ask them to each pull out a $5 bill and hand it to the person next to them. Is that generosity? Not really...it's just a slightly more complicated way to pay for your own purchase. Everyone ends up with the exact same amount of cash they started with.

The only person in the chain who was actually generous was the first woman who started it all. She is the only person who actually gave money away in the transaction.

And I wouldn't consider the woman at the end to be a jerk either. If she'd taken the free coffee, paid for by the previous car, and THEN refused to pay it forward, she would have been a jerk. She didn't take the free money, and instead simply spent her own funds. That's not greed...she simply declined to participate in what was essentially a pointless mathematical exercise designed to make people "feel generous" without them having to actually give anything up. It's the Starbucks version of slacktivism.

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100s of Customers Pay for Each Others’ Starbucks; 1 Jerk Ruins it All [View all] Agschmid Aug 2014 OP

Probably some greedy sawdust Aug 2014 #1

She said she wanted to pay for her own drink CBGLuthier Aug 2014 #48

Gee, you must be a lot of fun at parties HERVEPA Aug 2014 #77

Yes, but . . . gratuitous Aug 2014 #89

I suppose if it were at some place other than Starbucks. davidpdx Aug 2014 #2

How about tea? Agschmid Aug 2014 #3

On a very rare occassion davidpdx Aug 2014 #6

Tea at Starbucks sucks. Neoma Aug 2014 #61

That's annoying! Agschmid Aug 2014 #64

You can make your own tea pretty easy anyways. Neoma Aug 2014 #66

After an Occupy protest in L.A., some other DUers and I popped into a McDonalds pinboy3niner Aug 2014 #4

That really moving, Agschmid Aug 2014 #7

that's really cool! frylock Aug 2014 #9

I think I was with you that time. Was it after the M1GS protests in Downtown? U4ikLefty Aug 2014 #11

That's right, The Three Amigos at M1GS :) pinboy3niner Aug 2014 #12

What a great day!!! I totally forgot about it until you posted about it. U4ikLefty Aug 2014 #15

That was really sweet of you. In_The_Wind Aug 2014 #52

Absolutely! Flyboy_451 Aug 2014 #5

Idiots... Never... EVER, go to the drive thru!!! VScott Aug 2014 #8

LOL ! BlueJazz Aug 2014 #10

Out of those 400 people, only one was actually generous. Xithras Aug 2014 #13

+1 linuxman Aug 2014 #14

lol. For me it would feel too awkward ecstatic Aug 2014 #43

How do you end up with the exact same amount of cash you start out with? nt kelliekat44 Aug 2014 #20

Simple. Xithras Aug 2014 #91

Exactly. It is pointless. LisaL Aug 2014 #23

And Starbucks shouldn't be doing this to begin with. LisaL Aug 2014 #24

+1 magical thyme Aug 2014 #30

human beings interacting on any level in a positive manner is NOT POINTLESS. KittyWampus Aug 2014 #51

+1,000,000 Trajan Aug 2014 #71

Thank you. Very well said. HERVEPA Aug 2014 #78

That's a matter of perspective, I guess. Xithras Aug 2014 #97

Buying the next person's coffee is considered "helping others"? Iron Man Aug 2014 #112

+1 - This is bullshit. chrisa Aug 2014 #70

The jerk isn't the woman who broke the chain the 1st day. It's the blogger who did it on the 2nd day Gormy Cuss Aug 2014 #90

+1 Agschmid Aug 2014 #95

Right on, Xithras! LloydS of New London Aug 2014 #100

That would only be true if evetyone's order cost the same... PoliticAverse Aug 2014 #102

No, the second did. They pulled up and their coffee was paid for. treestar Aug 2014 #103

Exactly. This whole thing is stupid alarimer Aug 2014 #109

I like your answer. Iron Man Aug 2014 #111

the lady's Niceguy1 Aug 2014 #16

No more Mr. Niceguy. JaneyVee Aug 2014 #17

Good point. Also, someone has to be last eventually. JVS Aug 2014 #19

This was a great story and gesture. I wish we could get a pay forward chain in a grocery store for kelliekat44 Aug 2014 #18

You do understand what a chain means? LisaL Aug 2014 #25

Don't just Ask your supermarket or grocery store. merrily Aug 2014 #68

Ridiculous to call one person a jerk. Boom Sound 416 Aug 2014 #21

I don't think it's unique to Catholicism. Or even to Christianity. merrily Aug 2014 #47

Not the Jews. Boom Sound 416 Aug 2014 #58

Jury Results: stevenleser Aug 2014 #72

Wow! Boom Sound 416 Aug 2014 #74

The issue was that your comment wasn't clear. stevenleser Aug 2014 #82

Thank you for for the careful consideration. Boom Sound 416 Aug 2014 #86

I wouldn't play it forward. LisaL Aug 2014 #22

Let me get this straight: merrily Aug 2014 #26

Wa it the last customer of the day? Erich Bloodaxe BSN Aug 2014 #27

It does not matter if Drucilla was the last customer of the day or not, merrily Aug 2014 #31

The reason I brought up exact change was that my assumption Erich Bloodaxe BSN Aug 2014 #53

I don't think the story was about paying for the next customer's order in full, only a free cup of merrily Aug 2014 #57

Oh, in that case, Erich Bloodaxe BSN Aug 2014 #60

I am starting to wonder how much of the story ever happened. merrily Aug 2014 #65

+1 I was thinking the same thing. nt Javaman Aug 2014 #28

What if I just wanted a $2 cup of coffee tammywammy Aug 2014 #29

sounds like not so much of a jerk as a dummy treestar Aug 2014 #32

She didn't ask anybody to pay for her order. LisaL Aug 2014 #33

She didn't get the concept of the chain treestar Aug 2014 #37

Well, I get the concept of the "chain." LisaL Aug 2014 #38

Well then people are going to consider you a killjoy treestar Aug 2014 #40

See if I care. LisaL Aug 2014 #45

The real dummy was the manager. merrily Aug 2014 #46

Where is the goldmine? LisaL Aug 2014 #56

A potential goldmine in goodwill. Ever own a business? merrily Aug 2014 #59

We do this at a Starbucks near where I live - TBF Aug 2014 #34

Jeezus, people, it's not the $2.25, it's the feeling of connecting. Gidney N Cloyd Aug 2014 #35

Hey it's so unfair! Their order might have been a quarter more! treestar Aug 2014 #41

Have you seen starbucks prices? LisaL Aug 2014 #42

It worked for several hundred people treestar Aug 2014 #44

No one is knocking connecting. The math bit comes in merrily Aug 2014 #55

I didn't know it was possible to buy anything at $tarbuck$ for $2.25 Orrex Aug 2014 #67

So let me get this straight... pipi_k Aug 2014 #36

The chain did get broken, but not by the customer who paid for her own coffee. merrily Aug 2014 #49

i'd not call her a jerk, just wanted to pay for her own coffee by herself. What did she ruin? uppityperson Aug 2014 #39

First world problem LannyDeVaney Aug 2014 #50

She may not have had enough money to pay for someone else's Evergreen Emerald Aug 2014 #54

Or maybe she just didn't want to do it. LisaL Aug 2014 #62

that's why I wonder how it worked so long treestar Aug 2014 #93

Starbucks is expensive so usually I feel like the more affluent go there... Agschmid Aug 2014 #96

If you want to pay it forward, you don't do it by paying for pricey coffee at a trendy Skidmore Aug 2014 #63

Kind of dishonest, the person said they just wanted to pay for their drink. dilby Aug 2014 #69

I don't know what to call a bunch of Starbuckers buying gifts for each other. NCjack Aug 2014 #73

That's a good story. Agschmid Aug 2014 #75

+1 nt Erich Bloodaxe BSN Aug 2014 #76

Agreed. But, Boom Sound 416 Aug 2014 #79

True treestar Aug 2014 #94

Isn't that a standard scam? oberliner Aug 2014 #106

No, for the same reason I don't participate in "waves" at stadiums... brooklynite Aug 2014 #80

Lol, you sound like a blast! nt Logical Aug 2014 #83

Funny, I was going to mention the wave upthread. Demit Aug 2014 #85

Except that the pleasant visual is a distraction from the game.....which is why I'm at the stadium. brooklynite Aug 2014 #88

Oh, right, the frenetic pace & nonstop action of baseball. Demit Aug 2014 #92

LOL! Friend has a story he was watching a baseball game on tv and channel surfed KittyWampus Aug 2014 #107

No bigwillq Aug 2014 #81

Sorry to ruin the feel good circle-jerk, but I just want to pay for my own stuff and leave. Throd Aug 2014 #84

Classy lingo nt Boom Sound 416 Aug 2014 #87

Regarding the untenable jury decision reached re NOT hiding a certain post, IrishAyes Aug 2014 #98

What if the next person ordered three drinks or pastries and drinks together? oberliner Aug 2014 #99

exactly, my drive thru starbucks sells expensive sandwiches and brownies Liberal_in_LA Aug 2014 #101

Being the drive through I'm assuming it was mostly just coffee treestar Aug 2014 #104

Even so - some drinks are double the price of others oberliner Aug 2014 #105

My guess - an upscale neighborhood where treestar Aug 2014 #108

I'll find something else to be upset about. Iron Man Aug 2014 #110