r/sandiego • u/elektriclizard • 1d ago

Stay Classy San Diego TY White Prius That Paid For Me at McDonald's!

Awww it happened to me! Beige Fiat 500 here! Thank you to the kind person on the white Prius at the McDonald's drive-thru window on Clairemont Mesa Blvd🎄❄️🎁 who paid for my lunch today 😋 I wasn't expecting it at all. I will make sure to pass on the nice gesture one of these days as well! Happy Holidays! ✨️

119 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

35

u/SimpleAffect7573 1d ago

Someone did this for me at In-N-Out once, after I’d had a really awful day. It meant a lot and I wished I could have thanked them. Instead I did it for someone else a couple weeks later.

5

u/elektriclizard 1d ago

It feels really nice tbh. So I can only imagine if you were having an awful day. Yes, I just waved at the person in the car and smiled, but am not sure if they even noticed lol. I thought about honking before waving but thought it could come off as too aggressive or something 😅🤣 I want to do the same for someone now as well 🤗 makes your day a little brighter! ✨️

9

u/SimpleAffect7573 1d ago

In my case, they had already gotten their food and driven off when the cashier told me. I thought it was all the more altruistic of them, knowing they’d get no acknowledgment…but very kind either way!

7

u/kylesboobs 1d ago

I’ve done this more than a few times at In-N-Out. Once, the guy behind me got out of his car to thank me, said it was his birthday, and then asked me out lol I declined, but I appreciated his gratitude.

It always feels good to do, and I should do it again soon.

2

u/elektriclizard 1d ago

Awww that's so nice of you (:

2

u/kylesboobs 1d ago

Thank you :) Happy holidays, and thanks for reminding us that people can be sweet! 🎄

31

u/mikepaco 1d ago

did you order 55 of everything?

5

u/elektriclizard 1d ago

Hahah no! I actually just got the "2 for $3.99" deal - so a double cheeseburger + 4 piece nuggets. But now i wish I did get 55 of everything 😂 jk. It's the super kind gesture that mattered 😀

13

u/MyNameIsMudhoney 1d ago

I've always wondered how this works--how does the person pay ahead for the one after them?

16

u/MoreSeriousUsername 1d ago

Usually as the person is paying at the second window, the person behind them is ordering or already ordered. They can just swipe twice. Worst case scenario the employee has to wait a minute or two.

17

u/elektriclizard 1d ago

I was about to give my card to the person on the drive thru window, and the guy handed me a receipt. I looked at him all confused, and he was like "oh, that car just paid for your food" 😲😲😲🤩🤩🤩

4

u/Man-e-questions 📬 1d ago

Paid for McDs in 2024? Dang what did they win the Lotto?

2

u/model3newgrad 1d ago

This once happened to me at McDonald’s. I bought a single McDouble, and the person in front of me paid for it. I was informed, without asking, that the person behind me had a $22 order, and that the chain had been going for awhile.

Op, I love that you had no pressure to pay for the person behind you; and that’s the way it should be done, but absolutely these “pay it forward” chains can get a little out of hand.

2

u/elektriclizard 1d ago edited 1d ago

I had NO idea that was a thing. Lmaooooo 😂 now I get what the other commenters were talking about. Yeah, no, haha boggles my mind that anyone would feel pressured by these "chains." Sounds like a trend or something people would do for social media. Weird. I could never hahah. I took my free food and drove off. I'll do a good deed when I feel like it 😌

But also, I rather not ASSUME that this is what was going on in the first place.

Now to your experience, egghh totally uncalled for that an employee would tell you there's a "pay it forward" chain going on, lmao. The audacity 😬

2

u/ThisIs2MuchPressure 2h ago

Recently at the Starbucks off the 5 & Leucadia, the person in front of me paid for me & I was so touched! I wasn’t in need at the time so I decided to pass it on right then & then the cashier told me I was actually the 10th person in a row to do that!! I thought the whole thing was so magical that it totally made my day!

((Of course I had to come to Reddit & ruin it by reading comments like the ones here about how tough it is on the cashiers apparently lol 😅 I will say the cashier seemed pretty pumped about it too, so maybe the magic outweighs the annoyance?🤞))

-7

u/BildoBaggens 📬 1d ago

Just know that this pay it forward nonsense will end with me if I'm in that line.

2

u/ClinkyDink 1d ago

Agreed. From what I’ve heard it’s a mess for the cashiers and makes their lives harder. If you are just expected to pay for next person you didn’t get a gift you got a responsibility.

The couple times I’ve gotten a “pay it forward” I just graciously accept and move on. No need to continue the pressure.

If I give someone a gift I would never expect it to come with an obligation.

3

u/elektriclizard 1d ago

Oh, you people are being super serious about it, lol. Pressure? Odd way to look at things, but hey whatever rocks your boat! I'm happy someone did something nice for me without even knowing me, and I wish to do the same soon. Without all these gibberish about "pressure." It felt nice, so hopefully I can do the same—that's all (:

0

u/BildoBaggens 📬 1d ago

I mean to say I'm pretty cheap, so I'll gladly accept the free food.

2

u/elektriclizard 1d ago edited 1d ago

I see, I see. Well I'm not cheap, but someone unexpectedly buying my lunch will still make my day heheh 😎🥹🍔 it's just little things that don't happen every day, you know? Yay!

0

u/elektriclizard 1d ago

Lmaooo noooo 😂 also i will not downvote or whatever, because I have a sense of humor lol. It made me laugh.