Pay it forward

So you all know I am going to be 40 in 8 days…8 DAYS people!

Like most people, I had goals that I wanted to reach by the time I was 40. But that’s my problem, I only had goals, I didn’t have a game plan to help get me to those goals. Now I’m frustrated and soon to be 40…that’s not a good combination, in my book.

In order to help me accomplish my goals...while I’m still living, I treated myself to a 30 day program of reflection, growth, and goal setting. Today is day 4, and so far, so good. I’m loving the program. Right now we are just in the reflection period and it’s eye opening. I’m looking back at my life and picking it apart, and that’s hard…it’s owning up to a lot of mistakes I’ve made in the past.

But that’s how we learn, right?

Anyway, part of the program is about getting out, meeting new people and creating positive relationships in our lives. So this morning, I had coffee with a guy that my friend has been dying to fix me up with. I wasn’t really excited about going, because I don’t really like blind dates. Not that this was a blind date, but I had never talked to or seen the guy, so, yeah…it was a blind “meeting”. And of course it was an epic FAIL! I will not be seeing him again! You see, I have this thing about meeting guys for coffee. If they get there before me and order their own coffee without waiting for me, I won’t ever give them a second chance. And that is exactly what happened today. He showed up early, bought his own coffee and was already sitting at a table when I got there.

But the worst part was that I had to wait in line for 10 minutes before I actually got my coffee and you know what he did? Yep, you guessed it…he sat at the table and waited for me to get my coffee. It was 10 minutes, you would think he could come and wait in line with me and get the conversation going. Maybe I expect too much from people, who knows.

Oh well, that’s not really the point of my post today.

Here's my point...

While I was waiting in line, I was thinking about my ex-mother-in-law. You see, whenever she goes to Starbucks, she always buys coffee for the person behind her line. I think it’s fabulous! So I thought I would give it a try today.

I get to the cash register, place my order, and when the cashier asks if there is anything else she can get me, I point to the guy behind me and say “yes, whatever he wants too.” He looked at me shocked! He immediately said “no, no, I can’t let you do that”, but I insisted. We argued back and forth for what seemed like forever, but in reality it was only about 30 seconds.

He finally gave in and gave the cashier his order: (3) Carmel Macchiato’s, (2) white chocolate mocha’s, and (2) venti house blends later, and I was forking out $27…plus a tip.

Doh!

Pay it forward never felt so…broke!