To the man who bought my coffee,

Thank you. I don’t think I was able to say it as much as I wanted to in the moment because I was overtaken by emotions. Sure, it was just a $2.69 coffee, but you paying for it meant more than you will ever know.

Let me set the scene for you. I had spent the whole morning crying into my pillow. I was stressed and mad at myself for something too silly to even mention. I had myself so worked up about it and just felt like everything in me was giving up. Normally when I get upset, I cry for a bit and get over it. I’m super into cheesy, inspirational quotes so I’ll normally look some of those up on Pinterest and then toughen up. But this time was different. I had felt so defeated that I was perfectly fine with staying in bed all day until work.

Then I looked outside at the bright and sunny day and thought… "stop pitying yourself." I put on my favorite album, fixed my hair, wiped my mascara off and ventured outside. Coffee has the ability to positively affect my mood so I intended on going to Dunkins first. I also intended on stopping and getting a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream because I was still in the "oh, poor me" state of mind.

I walked into Dunkins and got my usual, caramel swirl iced coffee with milk and sugar. When the worker told me it was $2.69, I grabbed my wallet and pulled out my money. Then a guy who was behind stepped forward and said “it’s fine, I’ve got it”. Um, what?

He knew nothing about me. He had no clue that I believe strongly in helping others and do my best to do so. He had no clue that I was having a bad day. He had no clue that him paying for my coffee was saving me the tips I made the previous night working. He had no clue this was my phone's background. But maybe it's his, too.

This bearded man with a Patriots hat on made no big deal of it. I know it was only three bucks, but I was still in shock. Who just pays for other people for the heck of it? I wanted to tell him how awful of a day I had and he has no idea how much his kindness meant to me. But I chickened out because I was afraid my voice would crack. I was in shock. How did he know this is what I needed? All he said was “do something good for someone else”.

And with that, I got my coffee, said thank you as much as I could, and was on my way. I also totally forgot about the idea of Ben & Jerry’s. I put my headphones back in and replayed the moment over and over as I walked home. This act of kindness transformed my day in a matter of minutes.

I smiled at a woman I passed on the street. I waved to my neighbor. Normally, I’d avoid eye contact with strangers and try to walk by my neighbor without them noticing me. This guy was just what I needed in that moment and he’ll never know. So, thank you. You’ll never read this, but that’s okay. You have inspired me and I will definitely be paying forward with kindness in some way.

Have a great day!