Maybe There Could Be a Free Lunch

Sometimes Mike and I carpool to work. Friday was one of those days.

Over the past year I have learned that Mike likes coffee. I have also learned that it's a good idea for the coffee to be obtained within a few hours after the hateful duties of the alarm clock have been performed. The coffee shop of choice for non-bus days is a little drive-thru on the way to HP. Most of the baristas know his coffee order and can typically take the mug, fill it up, hand it back, and snatch the dollar in about 30 seconds. It's a streamlined operation.

On this particular morning we pulled up behind a green Suburban, and as we waited it quickly became clear that this was not a simple order. I was still working my way through the various stages of waking up at this point, so I don't really remember how long we sat there or precisely what happened in the meantime, but eventually the Suburban drove off and we pulled up to the window. The barista looked down at Mike's empty mug, held up a $10 bill with a slightly quizzical look on her face and said, "This is for you today...so get something fancy". The best we could figure afterward is that the anonymous suburban driver had left it for us.

We're still not sure exactly what happened or why, but it was one of those happy mysteries that comes along every so often and reminds me that not everyone is completely self-centered and sometimes people do nice things just because they want to. So I got a complimentary chai latte to start the day, along with a smile and a bounce in my step. It also encouraged me to "pay it forward", so I'm keeping my eyes open for opportunities.