I don’t drink coffee. I’ve been told I don’t need the caffeine, which is probably true. However, I have a sweet tooth and a penchant for hot chocolate. Some of the best is at Phoenix Coffee because they put cinnamon in it, which may be the greatest spice of all time. (I actually wrote a blog post in praise of cinnamon a few months ago. Seriously, love the stuff.) I stopped by the drive-through on my way to work last week. It was a cold morning, and work is always a chilly environment (temperature-wise, not in the esoteric atmospheric sense), so a medium hot chocolate (no whipped cream, please), sounded like a little cup of heaven. When I pulled up to the window, the person at the counter was helping a customer. I waited, then a second barista came up and took my order. I watched her make the hot chocolate, put a lid on it, walk towards the drive-through window then, denied! She put the cup down near the window and turned to help a customer. At first I thought she was just answering a question, but then she started helping another customer. I waited, watching the minutes tick by and hoping I wouldn’t be late for work. The barista showed no sign of ever coming back to the drive-through window and so I did something I’ve never done before. I left. I’ve never walked out on an order before, but now I have.

This morning, the first of November, there was frost on the ground. I had a really good early swim and on the way to work had a hankering for some cinnamon-y hot chocolate. On a whim, I decided to give the Phoenix drive-through one more chance. This time, there was no one at the counter and a friendly-faced barista greeted me and took my order. She made it in record time and brought it to the window. As she was handing it to me, a second barista popped her head into the drive-through window.

“It’s free,” she said. “The lady before paid for it. It was a random act of kindness.”

This was unexpected. I’ve never been the recipient of a random act of kindness, but instinctively I knew what to do. I smiled. “I’d like to do the same,” I said and handed her the few dollars in my hand.

Glad I gave them another chance.