Would You Ever Pay It Forward?

[Road Runner]

I would depending on the situation. I haven't done something like this before but I remember one time during the Christmas season when public places were just starting to open up again.


The Texas Roadhouse that I was eating out with a friend of mine was very understaffed which is why our food was taking forever.


The waiter apologized and was so kind to us that I just had to let him keep all of the change along with the tip and told him Merry Christmas.

 

[hjmick]

I often anonymously pay the tab for servicemen and women at restaurants. Obviously they are in uniform, otherwise they just look like everybody else but with shorter hair...

 

[Concerned American]

I would depending on the situation. I haven't done something like this before but I remember one time during the Christmas season when public places were just starting to open up again.


The Texas Roadhouse that I was eating out with a friend of mine was very understaffed which is why our food was taking forever.


The waiter apologized and was so kind to us that I just had to let him keep all of the change along with the tip and told him Merry Christmas.

You never know when it will happen. I saw an elderly couple at Walmart. They were standing in line behind a 20 something man with a youngster. He was buying healthy food but apparently had bought more than his budget would cover. He was deciding what items to return when the couple told the clerk to just add those items to their bill. The total came to around $15. The man was thankful and expressed his gratitude when he left. Paying it forward just happens--it isn't planned.

 

[okfine]

You never know when it will happen. I saw an elderly couple at Walmart. They were standing in line behind a 20 something man with a youngster. He was buying healthy food but apparently had bought more than his budget would cover. He was deciding what items to return when the couple told the clerk to just add those items to their bill. The total came to around $15. The man was thankful and expressed his gratitude when he left. Paying it forward just happens--it isn't planned.

Nice story.

 

[Road Runner]

Nice story.

Yeah but I don't think that democrats like you are capable of that kind of compassion.

 

[okfine]

Yeah but I don't think that democrats like you are capable of that kind of compassion.

First off, I'm not what you say. Secondly, quit giving away money the taxpayers give you. and quit thinking you're entitled.

 

[Road Runner]

First off, I'm not what you say. Secondly, quit giving away money the taxpayers give you. and quit thinking you're entitled.

Bah humbug to you too Ebenezer.

 

[Woodznutz]

I prefer to help the helpless, like the kids in the third world born with cleft lips and or palates.

Donate Now and Change a Child's Life

A baby with a cleft is born every 3 minutes. These babies can experience isolation and often face prejudice in their communities. No child deserves to feel like an outcast. You can save a child’s life with the gift of cleft treatment.

support.smiletrain.org

I'm also going to add "Mercy Ships" to my donation list.

Donate Now and Change a Child's Life

A baby with a cleft is born every 3 minutes. These babies can experience isolation and often face prejudice in their communities. No child deserves to feel like an outcast. You can save a child’s life with the gift of cleft treatment.

support.smiletrain.org

Without this help these kids have little chance in life.

 

[whitehall]

You can pretend to be an amateur philanthropist and give away money if you are so inclined but I would rather eat at a restaurant and deal with ordinary commerce without making assumptions about social inadequacies of society.

 

[Oddball]

I would depending on the situation. I haven't done something like this before but I remember one time during the Christmas season when public places were just starting to open up again.


The Texas Roadhouse that I was eating out with a friend of mine was very understaffed which is why our food was taking forever.


The waiter apologized and was so kind to us that I just had to let him keep all of the change along with the tip and told him Merry Christmas.

That's not "paying it forward" (I hate that fucking cliche)....That's just being a decent human being.

Every time I've heard that tiresome cliche invoked, it has always involved virtue signaling in one form or another.

 

[Lisa558]

Not sure if it’s actually a pay-it-forward story, but….

My parents were eating at a moderate, chain restaurant and the couple in the next booth were having trouble getting their baby to settle down. My mom said she could tell they could use some “down time,” and so she said, “oh what a cute baby….can I hold her for a while?”

My mom entertained the baby, fed her the bottle, and gave the parents a little time to enjoy their meal. Then they handed the baby back, and went back to eating.

The couple got up to leave, thanked my mom, and left. My parents finished their meal, and when they asked for the check, they were told….

…”the couple at the next table paid your bill.”

 

[Concerned American]

Not sure if it’s actually a pay-it-forward story, but….

My parents were eating at a moderate, chain restaurant and the couple in the next booth were having trouble getting their baby to settle down. My mom said she could tell they could use some “down time,” and so she said, “oh what a cute baby….can I hold her for a while?”

My mom entertained the baby, fed her the bottle, and gave the parents a little time to enjoy their meal. Then they handed the baby back, and went back to eating.

The couple got up to leave, thanked my mom, and left. My parents finished their meal, and when they asked for the check, they were told….

…”the couple at the next table paid your bill.”

My daughter's family was celebrating her young daughter's b'day at Red Lobster. Another couple at the next booth paid my daughter's bill prior to my daughter's family finishing. She didn't know how to handle it. Both she and her husband are gainfully employed and were capable of paying their own way. They appreciated the gesture, but felt that it was misdirected.

 

[boevans]

Of course.

 

[Arlette]

I have never done that. I give generously to the local homeless. Cash and weed.

 

[Lisa558]

My daughter's family was celebrating her young daughter's b'day at Red Lobster. Another couple at the next booth paid my daughter's bill prior to my daughter's family finishing. She didn't know how to handle it. Both she and her husband are gainfully employed and were capable of paying their own way. They appreciated the gesture, but felt that it was misdirected.

Interesting. My parents were very touched. Perhaps part of the difference is that my parents were an older, retired couple.

 

[toobfreak]

Would You Ever Pay It Forward?​

I sort of have. I've been in the grocery checkout with a big order and saw there were two young girls behind me just getting 1-2 things, so I told the cashier to scan their items and just add it to my bill so they didn't have to wait and could just go, but I'd have no problem if the person ahead of me paid for my book. Why should I mind so long as the bill was satisfied? Why would I refuse like that one ditzy women and leave the store with money collected for nothing? What kind of neurotic insists on paying a bill that is already paid just because SHE didn't pay it? We get enough bad fortune in life that we should never question good fortune.

But conversely, neither would I just leave money at a store for some unknown future customer. How would I ever know the store clerk didn't just keep it? I would have to see the person, what they were buying, and then, if I thought it warranted, I might pay for their item.

 

[Moonglow]

I would depending on the situation. I haven't done something like this before but I remember one time during the Christmas season when public places were just starting to open up again.


The Texas Roadhouse that I was eating out with a friend of mine was very understaffed which is why our food was taking forever.


The waiter apologized and was so kind to us that I just had to let him keep all of the change along with the tip and told him Merry Christmas.

How long did it take you to eat out the steakhouse restaurant?

 

[Road Runner]

Not sure if it’s actually a pay-it-forward story, but….

My parents were eating at a moderate, chain restaurant and the couple in the next booth were having trouble getting their baby to settle down. My mom said she could tell they could use some “down time,” and so she said, “oh what a cute baby….can I hold her for a while?”

My mom entertained the baby, fed her the bottle, and gave the parents a little time to enjoy their meal. Then they handed the baby back, and went back to eating.

The couple got up to leave, thanked my mom, and left. My parents finished their meal, and when they asked for the check, they were told….

…”the couple at the next table paid your bill.”

That's a very touching story.

Of course.

Hopefully you mean that.

 

[para bellum]

I have picked up the lunch tabs for cops and servicemen in uniform on a few occasions, always happy to have that opportunity.

There was a thing going around for a while where someone at the drive-thru would pay for the people behind them, and it would just keep going. You'd get to the window and find out your order was paid for by the person ahead of you, and they ask if you want to pay for the person behind you. I always go along with that one.

Giving to the needy, yes but I hate the supermarket and fast-food "checkout charity". The corporation collects the money from the customers and claims a tax break or turns it into PR program, bragging about how much they donated to charity last year.

I just donate to my local food banks and I know it will get to the people who need it.

"Paying it forward" (to me) means when someone asks to borrow money, I give it to them and tell them not to pay me back. Instead I tell them to help someone in the future when they have the opportunity. I prefer to do this, because there is nothing more annoying than someone saying they will pay me back and never doing it. I free myself from that aggravation by telling them to "pay it forward".

 

[flewism]

It is not that hard to do and do it regularly. I've been very blessed in my working life, kids are grown, successful and gone.
As I age into senior status it seems easy to do.