They say you never know who may be watching you and it seems they may be right.
Jontay Black wasn't having the best day. He had just been written up at work and all he wanted was a strawberry lemonade to help soothe it all away.
Sounds simple enough, but it turns out it was anything but.
What Happened When a Starbucks Barista Kept Messing Up an Order
Black was at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport when he popped into a Starbucks and put in his order. The barista, who was new on the job, didn't know how to enter it properly so instead of a strawberry lemonade he received a coffee with strawberries in it. An interesting combination to be sure.
He sent it back only to receive the wrong order. Again.
And while this may be enough to put even the most patient among us over the edge, especially when we're already having a bad day, it turns out Black is not like the rest of us.
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In a TikTok video that has gone viral with over 362K views and 100K likes, Black explains what happened:
“Long story short, they kept messing up the order, and I was just being polite, like, it’s ok, everybody has bad days because I’ve been having a bad day my damn self."
Rather than get upset, Black remained calm and compassionate.
Eventually, he received his strawberry lemonade. However, that's not all he got. Apparently, the exchange had not gone unnoticed.
How a Starbucks Customer Was Rewarded for Being Kind
Someone had been watching and it wasn't long before Black found out who.
"When they finally got my order right, one of the execs came up and she’s like, ‘I’m an exec from Starbucks and I watched your experience from beginning to end, and you were so polite with our people that I’ve got something for you.’”
She then handed him an envelope that Black claims contained a lifetime Starbucks gift card. “She gave me a lifetime Starbucks gift card. I just go and swipe it. Swipe and swipe and swipe it, no swipe-back,” he said.
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According to the Starbucks website, the card has an approximate retail value of $57,378.00. That's a whole lot of coffee (or strawberry lemonades as the case may be). It is good for 30 years and grants the user one free food or standard menu beverage item per day. Not too shabby for simply choosing to be kind.
Turns out, good things really do happen to good people.
Black ended the video by sipping his drink and thanking Starbucks for making his day.
How People Respond to One Man’s Act of Kindness
Black's clip garnered over 3K comments with a number of commenters praising the TikToker for choosing kindness.
"You didn’t let your bad day ruin somebody else’s and for that you were blessed."
"This is the BEST advertisement to just Be KIND!! You deserve it!!"
"Kindness breeds kindness. It's because, sir, you are a good person and it always boomerangs back."
Others joked that this was his ticket to love, writing, "Baby that is Tinder profile material! "lifetime Starbucks card" is a resume credential," and "if that's your way of proposing to me, I'll break the news to my husband. brb"
And one commenter summed up the entire experience with these simple words, "Moral of the story.....Be kind to others!"
How One Man Proved the Importance of Responding With Compassion
Black's actions are a small reminder to all of us, that no matter what may be happening in our own lives, we can still be kind to others. Sometimes this isn't always an easy task.
It can be hard not to take our own bad days out on other people. It can be difficult to tolerate even the smallest annoyance when we barely have the bandwidth left to deal.
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It can be easy to get upset, yell, scream, and wonder, "how hard can this be??" when someone gets something wrong. It can be easy to forget that they too are human.
And yet, it really does take so little to be kind. To show someone else the respect, compassion, and kindness that we wish for in return.
After all, you never know who may be watching.
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