My South: Paying it forward

Something interesting happened to me on the way to work this past week. 

My brother-in-law had borrowed my truck the day before and left the radio tuned to talk radio. When I stepped in the cab and cranked the engine, I was assaulted with a barrage of news and commentary that made me sick to my stomach. 

Social media and all the news channels were abuzz with bad news, as they often are. I found myself getting sucked into a swirling vortex of doom and gloom until a stranger shed a little light on my day.

Normally my day begins with a bowl of cereal for breakfast, but we’d been out of town over the weekend and there was no milk in the fridge. I went to Plan B, which was to pick up a biscuit and coffee at Jack’s before heading to a meeting. 

The morning rush is always hectic there. But the restaurant “slams and jams” at that hour, and I didn’t have to wait long. As I neared the window, I clicked the gearshift to park and leaned over to pull the wallet from my pocket. Counting out the correct amount of money, I pulled to the window as the car in front of me drove away.   

The young window-worker smiled as she leaned out and handed me my coffee and a bag with my biscuit. When I gave her the money, she said, “The lady in front of you paid for your order.” It took me a moment to process what she’d said. I looked over and saw her car pulling from the parking lot, but I didn’t recognize the vehicle. I wanted to offer a wave of thanks, but she never looked back. The random act of kindness touched me.

I started to put the money back in my wallet, but on a whim, I looked in my rear-view mirror. Two teenage boys were in the car behind me. “How much is their breakfast?” I asked. Handing the money to the smiling window-worker, I told her I wanted to pay for their meal. Shifting into gear, I drove away and didn’t look back. 

My breakfast cost me the same amount it would have cost had I bought it myself, but the exchange at the Jack’s breakfast drive-thru window turned my day around. I let world news bubble and spew without my participation.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the world is a cesspool and humanity is hurtling headfirst into a tunnel of darkness. Ten minutes of any news channel or talk radio would supply an abundance of evidence to support this theory. But there’s kindness all around us. 

The problem is that good news doesn’t sell as good as bad news. While bad news travels like a virus, good news tends to travel from smile to smile, which is often much slower.

I can’t change the fact that there are a few mean people all over this planet. But the next time I pull into the drive-thru at Jack’s for breakfast, I can put a smile on the faces of the people in the car behind me.

Rick Watson is a columnist and author. His latest book, “Life Changes,” is available on Amazon.com. You can contact him via email at rick@rickwatson-writer.com.