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Have you ever paid for a strangers meal?

Have you ever paid for a strangers meal or drink

  • Yes

    Votes: 32 84.2%

  • No

    Votes: 4 10.5%

  • Why would I do that?

    Votes: 1 2.6%

  • I plan on it

    Votes: 1 2.6%
  • Total voters
    38
H

herenow1

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Over the past year or so I've seen several Facebook posts about someone in the drive thru paying for their meal, or someone at Starbucks paying for their coffee. A pay it forward type deal if you will. Have you ever randomly paid for someone's meal or drink? If so, why? I think it's neat.
 
herenow1 said:
Over the past year or so I've seen several Facebook posts about someone in the drive thru paying for their meal, or someone at Starbucks paying for their coffee. A pay it forward type deal if you will. Have you ever randomly paid for someone's meal or drink? If so, why? I think it's neat.
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I was in an airport a couple years ago going back to New Haven for my 30th college reunion. I was buying some gum and other stuff at one the airport stores and a lady in a staff sgt's uniform was next to me in line and we were talking while waiting and she noted she was home visiting her kids but was now on her way back to Afghanistan. She had a bottle of water and a candy bar and I told the cashier to include her stuff with my purchases,

I was in my favorite gun store a year later and a guy home from the front was looking at a knife-a knife that a friend of mine designed and which is popular among cops in our area. I didn't know the soldier but I knew he had been over in Afghanistan for a year or so and was going back so I told one of my friends behind the counter to give the guy the knife and I'd take care of the cost. The store did and only charged me the wholesale on it rather than the retail
 
Countless times on a few continents.
 
Sort of. A woman in front of me fell short $15 at the register, so I covered her because I felt bad. That woman eventually came to be a good friend of mine.
 
dammit I don't have money, but if it counts, I told my dad to help this lady who went insane on the sidewalks of Brazil so we bought her some food and then gave her a tiny sum of money for a snack afterwards. Poor woman was talking to herself loudly and was laughing at random times, she was starving.
 
I think the most notable time I bought complete strangers a drink was when I bought a round of beers for the house at a little dive bar called the Knotty Pine on a Sunday morning.

This couple who was hanging out playing pool came up to the bar to thank me for the beer. We struck up a conversation in which they mentioned that they were new to the area and didn't know anyone around here. The Jeep plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin had to lay off a bunch of people, but they offered some of the people who got laid off a job at the Jeep plant here in Toledo, Ohio. So they relocated here, to a city where they didn't know anyone.

Fast forward. We have been good friends for over 20 years. Just because I bought them a drink. A couple of beers is a small price to pay to gain a couple of lifelong friends.
 
herenow1 said:
Over the past year or so I've seen several Facebook posts about someone in the drive thru paying for their meal, or someone at Starbucks paying for their coffee. A pay it forward type deal if you will. Have you ever randomly paid for someone's meal or drink? If so, why? I think it's neat.
Click to expand...

I have done so a number of times. An example was, when I was taking a taxi from the hotel in Berlin in search of dinner I asked the driver, he was an architect that was not allowed to work in his specialty as it turned out, where he came from. He was Persian so I asked, where I could get a good Persian meal. I then persuaded him to come along and show me what was good. This turned out to be an interesting evening and I have repeated it.
 
I pay for a stranger's meal every week when I get taxed. :2razz:
 
A couple times I've paid for homeless people's meals both here and when I visited my girlfriend in NYC
 
I've paid for people's meals several times in Africa and here too in the UK, I have to say I've also had it done for me in the most surprising of places too.

Sometimes when visiting very poor and humble villagers homes I've been given a meal which I knew was meant to last them a couple of days and I always made sure to return the favour by buying sacks of grain in return. I know from experience and living there that these people did it because of local custom and did it without expecting reward because that would be what they did for any guest.

The idea that it's only wealthy people paying for the homeless or beggars meals is not the correct picture.
 
I regularly pay for the car behind me at Starbucks.
 
The most recent were the boys at the skatepark. I have been somewhat homeless, but not really experiencing a food issue. One of the skateparks that I shot video at has/had a large contingency of homeless young minority men, 18-23, who helped me immensely by not treating my like the 54 yo, middle class woman I appear to be and shared their mj sources with me to the point of staying with me the first couple of meetings with same connection, who I now contact directly. So over the past year or so, I made a point of going there a couple of times a month and taking 4-5 to burger king or mcdonalds, their choice, and when it was one of their b-days I would buy cupcakes and iced teas and take the goodies to the skatepark so they could have a little something.

Unfortunately the police have done something in that park because all those young men are no longer there, ever. Don't know what and nobody seems to know. :(
 
herenow1 said:
Over the past year or so I've seen several Facebook posts about someone in the drive thru paying for their meal, or someone at Starbucks paying for their coffee. A pay it forward type deal if you will.
Have you ever randomly paid for someone's meal or drink? If so, why?
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 I think it's neat.
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Yes, because I'm a citizen of the USA and I've paid taxes all of my life.

One of the many things that our taxes do is pay for the USA's USAID program which has fed millions of people all over this planet since JFK created it in 1961.
 
shrubnose said:
Yes, because I'm a citizen of the USA and I've paid taxes all of my life.

One of the many things that our taxes do is pay for the USA's USAID program which has fed millions of people all over this planet since JFK created it in 1961.
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And don't forget EBT or food stamps, they help your fellow citizens right here.
 
shrubnose said:
Yep, they sure do, but some people on the right would like to eliminate them and spend the money on foreign wars instead.
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And the people on the Left like to keep those people on the Democratic Slave Plantation. Keep them down accountable and dependent to the Democratic Masters.
 
shrubnose said:
Yep, they sure do, but some people on the right would like to eliminate them and spend the money on foreign wars instead.
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I would suggest limiting the amount of time you can receive them. If you work, I have no problem with you receiving EBT. If your in your 30's, never had a job and dont plan on looking....well thats a different story. :p Im also not interested in foreign wars....we have to many things here in this country that needs fixing.
 
As an expat in the 3rd world I have voluntarily paid for food, medical treatments/medicines and school supplies or kids.
 
It is customary to pay for newly acquainted tourist guests here. But I always have the feeling that this may not be reciprocated abroad?
 
Yes, it's called 'taxes' and 'welfare'.

Plus, I have given to food banks...many, many times.

Have I specifically bought an individual whom I do not know who is in my presence a meal...I cannot remember...probably.
 
Yep plenty of times. When I worked as a cashier there were times when people did not have enough money or servicemen/women would walk in and I would pay for it.
 
Lakeside said:
And the people on the Left like to keep those people on the Democratic Slave Plantation. Keep them down accountable and dependent to the Democratic Masters
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After we hear the same, losing, anti-Democratic Party BS for the one thousandth time, it loses a lot of sting.

You might want to try to come up with some new BS.




"Better days are coming." ~ But not for the out of touch, running out of time losers in the GOP who can't put anyone in the White House.
 
DrPepper said:
I would suggest limiting the amount of time you can receive them.
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 If you work, I have no problem with you receiving EBT. If your in your 30's, never had a job and dont plan on looking....well thats a different story. :p Im also not interested in foreign wars....we have to many things here in this country that needs fixing.
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I suggest trying to never let anyone in the USA die of hunger, no matter what anyone on the right thinks.
 
herenow1 said:
Over the past year or so I've seen several Facebook posts about someone in the drive thru paying for their meal, or someone at Starbucks paying for their coffee. A pay it forward type deal if you will. Have you ever randomly paid for someone's meal or drink? If so, why? I think it's neat.
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I've been part of such a thing on a couple of different occasions. It makes me wonder how long the train has been for the pay it forward. I always think it's cool when you can be part of one.

Besides that, I've paid for food at school for kids many times. One time I specifically remember is a 6th grade girl being forced to take the wrong lunch option in the serving line (how that happened, I don't know...the serving ladies are almost always very nice, but this girl wouldn't have made it up) and she was very upset over it. So I went up, bought the item she wanted and gave it to her. She was very grateful and it made me feel good to see her smile in that way.
 
herenow1 said:
Over the past year or so I've seen several Facebook posts about someone in the drive thru paying for their meal, or someone at Starbucks paying for their coffee. A pay it forward type deal if you will. Have you ever randomly paid for someone's meal or drink? If so, why? I think it's neat.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't pay for the next guy's in line drive-thru meal, but I've paid for meals. A homeless guy outside McDonald's. Gave him $5 to eat. He went right into the store after he waved a hearty goodbye to us as we drove away. Bought a woman at another McDonald's a Happy Meal for her little girl (supposed) hungry in her car, and bought her a Big Mac and a Coke. Frankly, I think she was a liar. Right after 911, was having breakfast in a greasy spoon, and a group of soldiers came in - three or four of them - we bought their breakfast and started a round of applause.

I'm a sucker for a sad story, all in all.
 
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