What TikTok Is Saying About This Starbucks Customer's Drive-Thru Behavior
The pay-it-forward phenomenon at the Starbucks drive-thru involves each driver paying for the order for the driver behind them. In 2014, Starbucks customers at a location in St. Petersburg, Florida kept the chain going for 11 hours, starting at 7 a.m., and ending at 6 p.m. Employee Vu Nguyen was working the drive-thru window that day and told each customer that pulled up that their order had been paid for by the person before them, asking them if they'd like to pay it forward. In all, a whopping 378 customers participated until someone refused to pay for the drink behind them (via USA Today).
The idea behind paying it forward is rooted in kindness, but what are the limits? One customer took to TikTok to share that they had broken a Starbucks pay-it-forward chain because, while their order was $6, the person behind them had an order that cost $46. "How y'all feel about this am I wrong? What would y'all have done?" the @im_blessed55 captioned the TikTok video.
Would you pay $46 for a stranger's order?
TikTok user @im_blessed55 said they broke a 23-car streak and felt as though they had been set up. As of this writing, their TikTok video questioning whether they were being fair when breaking the Starbucks pay-it-forward chain has more than 5.2 million views and almost 7,000 comments with fellow TikTokers and Starbucks customers chiming in. Many of them are saying they too would have declined to pay for the person's drink behind them in this situation.
"I ain't paying for anyone. Starbucks is a treat from me to me," wrote one user while another commented, "I wouldve did the same thing 1 or 700 car streak $46 no." Other TikTokers, presumably Starbucks employees, encouraged customers not to start or participate in pay-it-forward lines, saying it becomes confusing to remember whose order is whose and slows down service overall. "As a drive through employee, my favorite people were the ones who would end these ... lines," wrote a user.