I wonder who the ass was who stopped the chain.

Sounds like a publicity stunt

Do they still sell those home brew machines? I could use one...

biohacker: I wonder who the ass was who stopped the chain.

It was me.

The guy at the window said "the guy in front of you paid for your coffee" and I said "oh" and put away my wallet.

Then he sat there looking at me with a stupid look on his face.

So I said, "What, that guy behind me? F*ck that guy." and drove off.

Aww, that's so sweet! I'd hate to be the person who came in for a $3 cup of coffee & decided to pay for the next person in line that had over $20 worth of drinks purchased.

Let's see some of this holiday spirit carry over to brothels in Nevada, and we can see some girl on HBO's "Cathouse" saying "you wouldn't believe what my last 350 customers today did!"

Peaceboy: Let's see some of this holiday spirit carry over to brothels in Nevada, and we can see some girl on HBO's "Cathouse" saying "you wouldn't believe what my last 350 customers today did!"

"I'm dreaming of a white christmas..." No! Oh my god, that's horrible! You're like that android from Aliens!

subby: When the next 350 people repeat the gesture, it's a heartwarming Christmas storyproof that some people are lemmings that can be guilted into pretty much anything.

Fixed.

cmunic8r99: subby: When the next 350 people repeat the gesture, it's a heartwarming Christmas storyproof that some people are lemmings that can be guilted into pretty much anything.

Fixed.

Oh, you'll be fun at the Christmas party.

So basically only one person was nice, 349 people paid up, and one person was a dick.

So everything cancels out, and we are back with where we started?

To have actually been nice, the 2nd guy has to pay for two people behind him, the 3rd guy has to pay for two people behind the guy behind him... etc.

SockMonkeyHolocaust: Sounds like a publicity stunt

I'm walking backwards for Christmas.

Pretty cool it reached 350 people. I would have expected some cheap ass to break the chain way before that.

The only person that really benefited from this was the guy who broke the chain. So to get mad at him is odd, because without someone benefiting this whole exercise was pointless.

Why did those people buy this guy 249 cups of farking coffee? I don't get it. That doesn't sound very nice at all.

Perhaps the only person that benefited was the last guy, but there is another beneficiary of all this talk and goodwill...yes, the topless mermaid.

So what are the odds of anything like this happening at a Fark party?

Too cool.

/ Just when you've lost all faith in humanity...

FTA: Starbucks employee Michael Smith of Marysville was working the drive-through window when the first woman drove through and paid for the next customer.

Once the chain picked up, Smith refused to leave the drive-through window. He saw it as a special trust given to him by that first customer.

Sounds like someone is clutching at straws to find meaning in his miserable existence at Starbucks and should go back to grad school.

How the heck did they know what the people behind them were ordering?

It's a frickin' festivus miracle and shiat!

349 people felt they would be cheap asses if they didn't buy the next guy. It really doesn't help humanity.

At least we can say, 1/350 person is a cheap ass, and 1/350 person is nice. The rest are just sheep.

celery_stalker: How the heck did they know what the people behind them were ordering?

By the time you get to the window to pay, the people behind you have ordered.

celery_stalker: How the heck did they know what the people behind them were ordering?

It's already on the computer. Have you never been in a drive thru with many people? Before you pay the people behind has already ordered.

Anyway the 350th guy may not have been a dick, could be the 351st guy ordered a crap load of stuff. Maybe was an earlier customer that went back to profit from it.

gund: 349 people felt they would be cheap asses if they didn't buy the next guy. It really doesn't help humanity.

At least we can say, 1/350 person is a cheap ass, and 1/350 person is nice. The rest are just sheep.

I'm guessing you're a glass-is-half-empty kinda guy?

/expect a visit from three ghosts tomorrow night.
//the third one will kick you square in the nuts

Publicity stunt,
followed by profit.
Think about it.
Instead of being the generous coffee chain and give out free coffee
you make up a story.
If you get half the people to buy into it you still profit.

Maybe there was a lull in business and the last person in the chain didn't have anyone immediately behind them to pay for?

/optimist

testsicles: So one guy paid an extra $3 and now we should stand around slapping our cocks because of the grand gesture?

This is so stupid.

You hit the nail on the head. He was trying to start a giant cock slappin fest!

CitizenjaQ: Maybe there was a lull in business and the last person in the chain didn't have anyone immediately behind them to pay for?

/optimist

Either that, or he said fark it.

/would have said fark it.

Yesterday, I paid the toll for the person behind me and I actually wondered if he did the same for the person behind him at the time, as he probably would have had his $2.60 ready anyway.... then I read this story today. Guess I'll never know, but hey, that's the fun in random acts of kindness.

Must have been in a rich neighborhood. I can't afford to buy everybody a Starbucks coffee. What's that, like $100 per car?

gund: So basically only one person was nice, 349 people paid up, and one person was a dick.

So everything cancels out, and we are back with where we started?

To have actually been nice, the 2nd guy has to pay for two people behind him, the 3rd guy has to pay for two people behind the guy behind him... etc.

Has Fark of late been short of hero tags for you people to heap scorn on?

that page makes firefox go to 100% cpu usage.

some attorney:
I'm guessing you're a glass-is-half-empty kinda guy?

/expect a visit from three ghosts tomorrow night.
//the third one will kick you square in the nuts

I'm more of a the dude-I-wanted-coke-you-brought-a-glass-of-pepsi kind of guy.

Sorta makes me want to really study, work hard and aim high so that someday maybe, just maybe, I could work at the Starbuck's drive through.... Truly inspirational.

I think you pessimistic types oughta look up the meaning of the word "curmudgeon" and adopt it for your Fark signatures. That way, at least we can scroll past your negative comments. Sheesh, it's CHRISTMAS TIME, and luckily, this brings out a lot of really great things in people. I for one like to celebrate the GOOD news, not just shake my head at all the crap going on in the world today.

Even if it was a publicity stunt, I bet it made 350 people really think for more than five seconds about how easy it is to make a difference, even if it is to a total stranger who they will probably never ever meet again in their lifetimes.

Sometimes life is not entirely about getting something for free -it's about giving unselfishly to others

LowbrowDeluxe:
Has Fark of late been short of hero tags for you people to heap scorn on?

If everybody is a hero, being a hero wouldn't be very special would it? IT WOULD BE NORMAL. You just walk outside and find 350 people, you think 349 possess sufficient qualities to be called heroic?

I maintain only the first one was remotely heroic.

gund: Maybe was an earlier customer that went back to profit from it.

Cynical much?

/agree
//Bah Humbug

Now they're saying that a chain of 813 people have done it

Next they are going to have a story about people leaving their one-cent coins at the register for the later customers to use. Oh my god, the chain lasted 5 years.

Or it was a mistake and they just thought they were paying for their own coffee...

biohacker: I wonder who the ass was who stopped the chain.

gund: So basically only one person was nice, 349 people paid up, and one person was a dick.

gund: At least we can say, 1/350 person is a cheap ass

Or the store closed.
/wasn't there, just providing another possibility.

from the link kibo posted: "Some cynical bloggers and others posting online question whether these apparent acts of good will are actually being orchestrated by the coffee chain."

Way to go Fark, passing on the christmas cheer!

FTFL: Many customers have given donations of $10, $15 and $20 dollars when buying drinks for people behind them.

This is really beautiful. Faux-rich making Christmas brighter for the other faux-rich.

*sniff*

"Many customers have given donations of $10, $15 and $20 dollars when buying drinks for people behind them. Extra money that's not used to buy coffee will be donated to Starbucks' ongoing toy drive, Nix said." [Kibo's link]

I found that interesting, so most, if not all of the people were doing a good deed, particularly if they explicitly overspent on the customer behind them because the rest went in a donation bin for charity.

makes me feel less miserable this sunday morning as I drag myself to work.

350?

That's one busy Starbucks. Perhaps the chain stopped because it was closing time?

Go to the one across the street morons! There's no line there!

So, basically, the only person who didn't pay was the last person in line. Great gimmick.

Very silly. Either way, you have to pay up whether it's your $5 espresso drink or not. Hopefully, the person behind you in the SUV didn't order more than you.

I call bullshiat. 10 people maybe. 350? No way. I might have believed it if the Starbuck's PR department came up with a more realistic number and if reading Fark hadn't made me so cynical.

350 orders ar Starbucks? That's --what? like $20,000?

junior's shadow: Perhaps the only person that benefited was the last guy, but there is another beneficiary of all this talk and goodwill...yes, the topless mermaid.

Would it be too much to ask for pics of said beneficiary?

/The topless mermaid that is