Acushnet Woman Accidentally Breaks Kindness Chain at Drive-Thru

Random acts of kindness are my favorite kind of stories. People going out of their way to make another person smile is the type of energy I am here for.

Sometimes, however, it gets a little awkward when the “giving train” is broken.

An Acushnet woman hit the “pay it forward” jackpot when her coffee was paid for twice in two consecutive days, but she admitted that she forgot to return the favor. Bethany Gardner shared her “facepalm” moment with me to clear the air.

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Gardner took to Facebook this morning to share her experience at the Dunkin’ on South Main Street in Acushnet. Thursday morning, she entered the drive-thru, and when it came time to pay, she was told the car in front of her paid for her coffee.

“I was shocked!” she said. “That’s never happened to me before. I’ve done it for others, but it was the first time it’s ever happened to me."

Gardner was so excited, that she didn't even think to pay it forward for the car behind her.

Which brings us to this morning. Gardner was fully prepared to pay for the car behind her, when the same woman in the window at the same Dunkin' said, “No need, the woman ahead of you paid.”

“I was dumbstruck,” Gardner said.

Either this is the friendliest Dunkin’ on the SouthCoast or Gardner just has some serious luck on her side. I told her to buy a lottery ticket immediately.

She was so overwhelmed by the generosity that she drove off without paying it forward – again.

The true definition of paying it forward means you don’t expect anything in return, but Gardner isn’t that kind of person, and was mortified at what the Dunkin’ employee must have thought.

“The girl at Dunkin’ must think I’m such a jerk,” she joked. She plans on taking a trip to the Dunkin’ on South Main Street tomorrow morning and making someone’s day, which was her original plan all along. She swore to me she wouldn’t forget.

I have a feeling we will be hearing a lot about random acts of kindness as May begins, which is Kindness Month in Massachusetts, and the start of the “Kindness Challenge” presented by Rosemary Heath, who honors her husband, George, every year to memorialize his courageous act of sacrificing his life when he saved a pregnant waitress from a knife-wielding madman at the Silver City Galleria a few years back. Gardner will be using her “Kindness Card” tomorrow morning to get the “giving train” back in motion again.

“This is such a simple action and it’s such a simple way to make someone feel good, and to start the day off nice, I really appreciate it,” Gardner told me. “To the two women who have paid for my coffee two days in a row, thank you so much! I love our little town filled with kind people.”