In Florida, one McDonald's customer started a pay-it-forward chain after inspiring other 249 customers to be generous and do the same.
ABC News reports the spirit of giving is in the air as 250 drive-thru customers at a local McDonald's paid for the meals of the people next to them. Lakeland customer Torie Keene was paying for her food on Wednesday morning when she decided to pay for the meal of the car next to her.
Keene then purposely told McDonald's cashier Marisabel Figueroa to greet the other customer "Merry Christmas" and not "Happy Holidays." The next customer was moved when Figueroa said her food was already paid by the previous car. That's when she thought that she would love to do the same and the domino effect followed.
"It kept going and going" Figueroa told ABC news. "After the 15th car I started tally marking the number of people that were participating on a piece of paper," she said.
Figueroa, who worked from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, said that the chain reaction almost lasted for her entire shift. "I just kept giving everyone the same message, and they were all so stunned and so happy," she continued. "One lady even paid for the meals of the next three cars behind her."
While people were amazed by how generous they could get, Figueroa said she had "never experienced something like that before" in her 12 years of working for McDonald's.
"I feel very blessed to have been a part of all that," the cashier said.
Keene contacted Figueroa on Facebook when the pay-it-forward chain came out in the local news. She revealed that she was the "mystery customer" that started the long chain of kindness.
Keene added that she was surprised by the number of people who continued her good deed when she was "only trying to brighten someone's day."
