--- title: Starbucks 'Pay It Forward' Chain Has Hundreds of Participants description: Remember that ho-hum movie with Kevin Spacey, Pay It Forward? Well it sort of happened in real life in Florida canonical: https://time.com/3155287/hundreds-of-strangers-at-this-starbucks-paid-for-each-others-coffee-for-a-day/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-21T21:52:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:12:40.220Z og:title: Starbucks 'Pay It Forward' Chain Has Hundreds of Participants og:description: Remember that ho-hum movie with Kevin Spacey, Pay It Forward? Well it sort of happened in real life in Florida og:url: https://time.com/3155287/hundreds-of-strangers-at-this-starbucks-paid-for-each-others-coffee-for-a-day/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9c46c33d24a28dc/6986a077cd68488aa3096294/492118963.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2261 og:image:height: 1272 og:image:alt: TEA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Starbucks 'Pay It Forward' Chain Has Hundreds of Participants twitter:description: Remember that ho-hum movie with Kevin Spacey, Pay It Forward? Well it sort of happened in real life in Florida twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9c46c33d24a28dc/6986a077cd68488aa3096294/492118963.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hundreds of Strangers at This Starbucks Paid for Each Others' Coffee for a Day  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Aug 21, 2014 9:52 PM UTC  Chai tea from Oprah Winfrey is available in hot and cold servings at Starbucks. Chai tea from Oprah Winfrey is available in hot and cold servings at Starbucks.Chicago Tribune—MCT via Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Aug 21, 2014 9:52 PM UTC A Florida woman started what became a chain of goodwill Wednesday. Around 7 a.m. she ordered an iced coffee at a drive-through Starbucks in St. Petersburg and offered to pay for a caramel macchiato for the stranger behind her. He, in turn, paid for the person in the car behind him. And so it went. 378 people participated in the “pay it forward” chain until around 6 p.m., when customer 379 declined to participate in the experiment. The barista, Vu Nguyen, believes the last customer didn’t understand the concept, [according to](http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/weird/2014/08/21/pay-it-forward-starbucks/14383661/) the Associated Press. Way to be a downer, Stranger No. 379. \[[_AP_](http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/weird/2014/08/21/pay-it-forward-starbucks/14383661/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3155287/hundreds-of-strangers-at-this-starbucks-paid-for-each-others-coffee-for-a-day/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3155287/hundreds-of-strangers-at-this-starbucks-paid-for-each-others-coffee-for-a-day/"},"headline":"Hundreds of Strangers at This Starbucks Paid for Each Others' Coffee for a Day","datePublished":"2014-08-21T21:52:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:12:40.220Z","description":"Remember that ho-hum movie with Kevin Spacey, Pay It Forward? 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