If a barista at the local coffee shop informs you about an on-going pay-it-forward chain, is it a genuine act of kindness or just guilt? One patron, who stopped a long chain, thinks it's the latter.
Peter Schorsch, a patron at a Florida Starbucks ended a 457-customer pay-it-forward streak saying that he felt it had become "ridiculous and cheesy."
According to his blog, he drove to the Starbucks with the intention of breaking the chain.
Schorsch ordered two Venti Mocha Frappuccinos and was told by the barista that one of his drinks had already been paid for by the customer in front of him. He was then asked if he would like to do the same for the next customer.
He declined saying that he felt like the pay-it-forward phenomenon had become a marketing phenomenon and it was no longer a spontaneous act of kindness if the barista was asking the customer to pay it forward.
He did, however, tip the barista $100 for his two frappuccinos.
"I'm really not trying to be a Grinch," Schorsch said. "I know things are hard for baristas and I am willing to help people."
Schorsch described it as a first-world problem.
"Middle-class people sitting in their cars at a drive-thru, sipping a $5 drink and worrying about someone breaking the ranks," Schorsch said. "There is a little humor being a contrarian, but I think if you really want to help, find someone that obviously needs help like the homeless."
He said most patrons were probably only obliging out of guilt since the person in front of them paid for their drink. In the end, if one person got their drink for free, but paid for the next person's drink, it evened out.
The day before, the chain went on for 378 people broken by a woman who, according to baristas, did not understand the concept. He said the first day's streak was spontaneous and each of those purchases were true acts of kindness. The next day, however, he felt like the store was using it as a marketing ploy since people were driving to that Starbucks for that very reason.
Though the Starbucks Corporation says it has no hand in these pay-it-forward chains, another restaurant has openly adopted the pay-it-forward style. Panera Bread has "pay-it-forward"-style cafes where customers pay what they can and everyone else has the option to pay a little more.
