Pay it Forward

This morning on my way to work, I finally did something I've been wanting to do for quite some time. I paid it forward.

When I was a student at Benedictine College, one of the fun (and only) things to do was visit Daylight Donuts, a doughnut shop that opened at 2:00am.  I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that it was one of the only things to do, the college is located in a very small town. Wal-Mart was the mecca of entertainment for those too young to get into the bar, it's that small of a town.

Anyway, it was I not unusual for Daylight Donuts to be filled to capacity at this unusual hour, even during the week. One night during finals week, I headed there with a friend since we were still awake studying for our Chemistry exam at 2:00am. Naturally, most of campus was still awake studying as well and the place was packed.

We must have looked like we could use a break, because two very cute guys had already paid for our doughnuts by the time we'd reached the front of the line. Or, we'd prefer to think it was because they thought we were pretty. Not that it matters, since I was already dating my husband to-be at that time. We were an hour apart, at two separate colleges, but we saw each other every other weekend (sometimes every weekend).

Anyway, that was my first experience with the kindness of strangers. Since that time, I have heard several stories of people experiencing the kindness of others, particularly during the holiday season. So, I wanted to do something nice, but I didn't want to be cliche either.

So, on this random Monday morning in February, I asked the drive-thru attendant if I could pay for the order behind me as well. She seemed a little surprised, but not terribly so, which leads me to think that people have done things like this in the past. And that is great! I liked the idea of making someone's Monday morning just a little bit brighter.

Not only did it make that woman's day brighter (I'm hoping that it did anyway!), it made me much happier as well. It felt very good to do something nice for someone without expecting anything in return. If I had a larger budget, I would do things like that more often!

I have been crossing all kinds of things of the list in the last few days! I'm liking this forward momentum I have been building, I hope it continues in this direction!