It Was A Sign

by Sparkle Abbey

So last week, we were on our way to work and of course that means a trip through the Starbucks drive-thru. Our Starbucks is very popular, especially in the mornings and on the weekends. It’s not unusual for there to be a five or six car wait before you even reach the speaker to place your order. Why not go inside, you ask? Well, like most of the U.S., we've been hit with bone-chilling subzero weather and over ten inches of snow. So regardless of the line, you don’t get out of your vehicle unless you have to.

On this day, the drive-thru was almost deserted. There were only three cars in front of us. That’s a good thing, right? The lack of customers certainly didn't have anything to do with icy roads, a wind-chill of twenty below, or the fact that it was after 8:00 am and the morning rush had already passed though. It was a sign to proceed! So we did.

Just one example of our many Starbucks stops 

In what felt like seconds, but was probably more like five minutes, it was our turn to order our usual: grande non-fat no water chai, and a grande skinny hazelnut latte. The only problem was that the driver’s window wouldn't roll down. It was frozen shut. There was no way that window was moving.

You see where this is going.

Since there were cars behind us, keeping us from backing out and a making a clean getaway, we had only one choice—open the door to place the order. We looked rather silly, and felt a little foolish. And while we were hoping no one was paying attention to us, we weren't that lucky. We caught the driver behind us was smiling at us. Our barista also got a good chuckle at our predicament and casually mentioned we weren't the first customer with a frozen window.

Within a few minutes it was our turn to pay. Once again, we opened the door, allowing the freezing wind to slap us around for a few seconds and to steal our breath. As we reached for a Starbucks card to pay, the barista informed us there was no need-—our drinks had already been paid for. Turned out the driver in the car before us felt so bad about our window, he paid for our drinks! A true random act of kindness. It was completely unexpected and it totally made our day.

February 9^th - 15^th  is Random Act of Kindness week. The idea is to cheer up, inspire, or help a stranger. There are many simple acts you can do: a smile, let someone cut in front of you in line at the grocery store, or pay for someone’s drink at your favorite coffee shop. Most acts of kindness are free, you don’t have to spend money to “pay it forward.”

If you’re lacking inspiration and need some “kindness” ideas, check out the Random Acts of Kindness website. If you’re social media savvy, take part in helping #RAKWeek2015 trend by flooding your social media platforms with kindness. Look for us as we’ll be taking part in the fun.

What about you? Have you initiated a random act of kindness? Have you ever been the recipient of an act of kindness? Tell us about it! You never know who may read your comment and feel inspired by you!

**The Starbucks story is mostly true. It happened to only one of us. We’ll let you guess which one.

One last shout out! If you're in the Ames area this week, we'll be at the grand opening of Treats on a Leash for a book signing from 10:00 am- noon. Stop by and say hi! Click here for more details!