Every day I go into the same coffee shop on the way to work. It's part of a large chain here in the UK. I am new to the anonymous  act of kindness concept. I came across it recently. A few weeks ago I worked up the courage to ask the barista  if I could pay for a coffee for someone later that day. He looked at me kind of strangely and said "okay" and then put the money into the drawer where some change was put. I walked out feeling doubtful whether this would happen and privately thinking he might just add the money to his tips. This chain stamps a card every time you buy a coffee and when you get 9 stamps, the 10th coffee is free. I had just completed my card today and was due a free cup of coffee next time, so I cheered up as I headed out of the coffee shop. I believe that giving the card to people on the street is better than giving them cash so I forgot about the barista and passed the card on to a homeless guy I met later. A week later I was in the same store and I ordered my usual coffee and a new barista said to me, "Your coffee is on us." I was surprised and asked why he would give me a free coffee. He said that the staff were allowed to give out one free coffee a day to anyone they chose. And that today I was the lucky one. He said they knew that I was a regular and that I was always so cheerful with the staff. By the way, I was not sure I had been the first lucky person in the morning! This put a big smile on my face but I decided to ask if I could choose to pay it forward to someone else instead. Finally, he gave me the power to make a decision. Why did the author give the card to the homeless guy on the street?
Because he didn't need it any more. Because the guy had begged him for it. Because the guy was in great need of a coffee. Because he wanted the guy to have a free coffee rather than some money.